News-in-Brief

The Spending Review must provide a “long-term plan to adequately fund councils” while the “time for sticking plasters and emergency government bailouts needs to

A partnership between Oxford City Council and the Environment Agency “could form the blueprint” to unlock a number of housing projects around the country.

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council is seeking approval to increase in-borough capacity for school places for pupils with an education, health and care plan –

Council housing rents across the country are set to increase with all chief financial officers who responded to a survey on the financial stability

Powys County Council took out £55m in short-term borrowing in Q3 to cover rising capital commitments. The authority’s latest treasury management report said that sum also

A ‘financial catastrophe’ looms with ‘unmanageable’ special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) deficits risking bankruptcy for half of England’s largest local authorities, the County

Avon Pension Fund has confirmed the details of a new mandate aimed at backing local small and medium-sized businesses. The commitment, a £50m private

Tower Hamlets Council has reported “significant adverse movement” from Q2 to Q3 in both homelessness and adult social care financial pressures. Forecast gross pressure

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has cut capital expenditure by £6.6m from the start of the year, with the expected spend now standing at £16.2m.

A rising Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit poses a threat to Merton Council’s reserves position over the medium term, according to a financial monitoring report

Croydon Council is forecasting a £5.5m overspend on its general fund revenue budget at year-end, even after the expected utilisation of £51m in capitalisation

Southampton City Council is proposing to dispose of 13 assets with a net book value of more than £5m in the third phase of

The South Yorkshire Pensions Authority has launched two new funds aimed at boosting small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, addressing funding gaps

The ACCESS Pool, which represents 11 local government pension schemes with pooled assets of £52bn, has appointed Arcmont Asset Management and Golub Capital to

More councils are reporting significant increases to their Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits, along with the potential consequences of the statutory override ending in

London Treasury Liquidity Fund (LTLF), an investment fund designed for local authorities and public sector bodies, will invest £30m into private real estate debt

Swindon Borough Council will require further borrowing of £210.9m to fund its approved capital programme, according to a Q3 2024/25 capital monitoring report. This requirement

The increased cost of borrowing in the market has contributed to a planned £173m investment in Hampshire County Council’s own provision of care homes no

Herefordshire Council is to set up a council-owned housing development company in response to the “critical need for additional housing in the county”. The

Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) has released data on the local government audit opinion position as at 28 February 2025, the backstop date for

There is “absolutely no correlation” between population size and the performance or financial stability of unitary councils, the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has said.

The Local Government Association and the County Councils Network have warned of the potential negative effects of “efforts to dilute and bypass the role

Councils will be able to set their own planning fees under new government reforms while it will be easier for them to purchase vacant

Devon County Council is forecasting a £51.2m Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit for 2024/25. Although this represents a slight improvement on the previous forecast,

Government proposals to replace 185 county and district councils with new unitary authorities in 21 areas could save at least £1.8bn over five years,