AllenbridgeEpic Perspectives newsletter: Spring 2012

Oxfordshire growth arc set for £100m workplace parking levy: Oxfordshire County Council is set to approve plans for a workplace parking levy to raise up to £100m for new bus, cycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The council’s cabinet will next[...] dlvr.it/RN9Ztk pic.twitter.com/OEmf8L8rY0

Lancashire set to be first borrower from UK Municipal Bonds Agency room151.co.uk/treasury/bond-… #localgov #munibonds #bonds #funding

Scotland warns budget delay jeopardises council services: Scotland’s finance secretary has accused the UK government of being fiscally irresponsible for setting a budget date that makes it “impossible” for the devolved nation to debate its own… dlvr.it/RN7wT4 pic.twitter.com/e4VCXOQXcD

Bond agency’s first issue expected to be worth up to £300m: The UK Municipal Bonds Agency’s (UKMBA’s) first bond is set to be a floating rate note worth £250m to £300m, according to sources close to the deal. Last week, Room151[...] dlvr.it/RN5wWG pic.twitter.com/PmfdBRGAfx

Commercial income could be excluded from council funding calculations: The government is minded to exclude councils’ commercial income from calculations on how much funding they receive from central government, according to a senior official working on… dlvr.it/RN1fsW

LGPS funds and pools flex shareholder muscle on climate investment: Two Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pools and two funds have joined a group of investors calling on Barclays bank to cease fossil fuel investment. Brunel Pension Partnership, LGPS… dlvr.it/RMjk79 pic.twitter.com/s8fi4FF88W

Scottish councils fail to explain budget variations: Public spending watchdog the Accounts Commission has flagged up transparency failings in its latest annual report on the financial health of local authorities in Scotland. The body said an analysis[...] dlvr.it/RMjk1V pic.twitter.com/2NeDMmUkMC

Call for action on £250m annual cost of business rates avoidance: Councils are losing some £250m a year through business rates avoidance, equivalent to 1.0% of the total of this income source. That claim has come from the Local Government Association[...] dlvr.it/RMgN2s pic.twitter.com/Jr6jIZ2C34

Bonds agency on verge of first bond launch: The UK Municipal Bonds Agency is poised to launch its long-awaited first bond within weeks, with a second issue set to follow before the end of the financial year. Councillor[...] dlvr.it/RMdm1K pic.twitter.com/QOWZVUTM97

Audit: 2019 was a bust, let’s hope it gets better: Local government audit failed to reach optimum performance levels this year: Deadlines were missed and key staff lost. Things will need to improve in 2020, says Stephen Sheen Well, that[...] dlvr.it/RLdcDl pic.twitter.com/ee6A9xZkQ9

Christmas and New Year Message: By definition Christmas messages should be about a new start, they should be joyous and full of hope for what the next year may bring. Regrettably it is difficult to[...] dlvr.it/RLWjxM

Look to the future now it’s only just begun.: Now that the dust has settled after the General Election and we have at least some prospect of a “strong and stable” government, what can local government wish for in[...] dlvr.it/RLWjwl pic.twitter.com/SqS5Rtaqgh

Borough eyes community bond to fund green infrastructure: West Berkshire Council is exploring proposals to set up a community bond to fund a green infrastructure project aimed at achieving the authority’s carbon-reduction ambitions. Executive committee… dlvr.it/RLRb2y pic.twitter.com/Clee8ujhig

Local government sets out wish list as Conservatives win big: Prime minister Boris Johnson’s decisive general election victory has prompted leading local government voices to underscore the pressing finance issues the government must address. The… dlvr.it/RLMVnV pic.twitter.com/9fdLXJmYAf

CIPFA hopes updated resilience index will strengthen s151s: Around 10% of councils still face potential risks to their financial stability, according to an updated version of CIPFA’s financial resilience index. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance… dlvr.it/RLLTgP

Empowering the s151 – how to use CIPFA’s resilience index: CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman explains how local authority chief finance officers can benefit from comparing themselves to their peers. Most of us feel the irrepressible urge to turn to[...] dlvr.it/RLLTcp pic.twitter.com/hb4t81jKe2