News-in-Brief

Somerset Council has written to secretary of state for housing, communities and local government Angela Rayner to once again request exceptional financial support (EFS)

Cumberland Council is considering a range of potential asset disposals with the aim of delivering additional capital receipts. The authority was formally constituted in

Havering has become the latest London borough to request a capitalisation direction from the government for 2025/26 – with at least £71m needed. All

Two LGPS funds, East Riding and West Yorkshire Pension Fund, have contributed £27m of fresh equity capital to a  Foresight Natural Capital Ltd (FNC)

Mid Sussex District Council has added to its “incredibly significant” capital programme. The authority’s draft budget for 2025/26 shows a further £2.4m investment, increasing

Kent County Council has highlighted the “significant financial risk” of the “continuing and increasing” underlying deficit and accumulated debt on the High Needs Block

South Cambridgeshire District Council is expecting to need further short-term borrowing by the end of year, while there is also anticipated to be some

There is an “urgent need for transformation” at Scotland’s councils, “at a pace and depth we’ve not yet seen”, according to the Accounts Commission.

Hampshire County Council has confirmed that it has made a request to government for exceptional financial support (EFS) to allow council tax to be

Ministerial envoys will be sent into Tower Hamlets Council by the government to address governance and local accountability concerns, with the authority failing to

Upper-tier councils allocate an “overwhelming” 78% of their net revenue expenditure to social care, according to the results of the latest ‘Financial Resilience Index’

Barnet Council has issued a section 114 report on the basis that its monitoring officer and section 151 officer believe certain payments made by

East Sussex County Council has reduced its borrowing need from £79m to £29m between 2025/26 and 2027/28 following a review of its capital programme.

Oxfordshire County Council has reported that a forecasted £28.4m dedicated schools grant (DSG) High Needs deficit for 2024/25 will increase the total accumulated negative

Monmouthshire County Council says 2025/26 will be the third successive year that it has had to tackle gross expenditure pressures of more than £20m.

Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo) Public Sector Partnership Services (PSPS) is set to lead a transformation programme at the three Councils working together as

Manchester City Council must make £18.232m in identified savings to set a balanced budget for 2025/26. However, an additional pressure on that year’s budget

The District Councils Network (DCN) has outlined three reforms it says could help deliver 100,000 affordable homes. In a report titled ‘A blueprint to

Lambeth Council has requested at least £40m from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in the form of a capitalisation direction in

Birmingham City Council will require the government to agree a 9.99% council tax increase for the second year running in order to set a

Gloucestershire Pension Fund has invested £30m into Resonance’s National Homelessness Property Fund 2 (NHPF2). Some £20m of this investment will be invested directly into

Jenny Buck has been named chief investment officer (CIO) of London CIV, the £32bn UK Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pool. Buck succeeds Aoifinn Devitt,

Midlands-based LGPS Central has announced a significant increase in its assets under oversight by taking on stewardship services for an £11bn passive funds portfolio,

Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) has invested an additional £100m in affordable housing through a fund managed by Legal & General (L&G). The UK

Newcastle City Council and Nottingham City Council have both received a ‘C3’ grading from the Regulator of Social Housing, indicating ‘serious failings’. There were