A report called for the creation of a new mutual bank in which local councils would be able to deposit their financial reserves. The funds would then be used to lend to other local authorities to invest in infrastructure projects.
Source: Chris Leslie, Investing Together: The case for a Local Authority Mutual Fund, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report | NLGN press release
Date: 2008-Dec
An audit report said that local councils in England were well placed to ride out the immediate effects of the global credit crisis. Most local authorities had anticipated the increased costs, and loss of income, to some extent. They had adequate reserves to cushion the estimated £2.5 billion impact, and were taking action to cut costs.
Source: Crunch Time? The impact of the economic downturn on local government finances, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | LGA press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Dec
The Business Rate Supplements Bill was published. The Bill would give county councils, unitary councils, and the Greater London Authority powers to levy a local supplement on the business rate. Authorities would be able to use the proceeds to undertake additional investment aimed at promoting the economic development of their local area.
Source: Business Rate Supplements Bill, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Impact assessment | DCLG press release
Date: 2008-Dec
The government confirmed a 4.2 per cent funding increase for English local councils in 2009-10. Local authorities would receive £73.1 billion in 2009-10 and £76.4 billion in 2010-11 – increases of 4.2 per cent and 4.4 per cent.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 26 November 2008, columns 725-738, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCLG press release | LGA press release
Date: 2008-Nov
An audit report examined savings from 'back office' local council operations in England (such as finance, human resources, IT, procurement, legal services, facilities management, marketing and communications). These areas had contributed over one-quarter of the efficiency savings made in the previous three years: but making more savings would need a strategic and long-term 'transformational' approach.
Source: Back to Front: Efficiency of back office functions in local government, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report examined the potential costs and benefits of using new and existing funding tools to deliver major regeneration projects, with particular consideration given to the use of financial tools to bridge the gaps in core project funding. The application of a mix of new local funding tools, to support enabling infrastructure investments, could deliver significant benefits to local areas with the potential to generate long-term economic gains to the Treasury.
Source: Unlocking City Growth: Interim findings on new funding mechanisms, Core Cities Group (0161 242 5909) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Date: 2008-Sep
The Scottish Government laid out its programme for the year 2008-09, comprising 15 Bills. The programme included proposals for the abolition of council tax, and its replacement by a 3 pence addition to income tax.
Source: Moving Scotland Forward: The government's programme for Scotland 2008-09, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Statement | SG press release | BMA press release | LTS press release | Telegraph report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | FT report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined the effect of public spending on local economies. It urged local authorities and national policy-makers to ensure that public money was used in a way that had the best possible impact locally.
Source: Creating Resilient Local Economies: Exploring the economic footprint of public services, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (0131 650 9166) and Association for Public Service Excellence
Links: Summary | UNISON press release
Date: 2008-Sep
The government published a strategy for achieving its ambition for participatory budgeting to be used in every local authority area by 2012.
Source: Giving More People a Say In Local Spending: Participatory budgeting – A national strategy, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Strategy
Date: 2008-Sep
A report called for an end to the practice of funnelling the rent proceeds from local authority homes into a central government fund. It said that the money could be used by councils to build thousands of homes in areas where there was highest demand – instead of being re-distributed to other parts of the country for spending on other projects.
Source: My Rent Went to Whitehall, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release
Date: 2008-Jul
The government announced (in the draft Queen's Speech) plans to introduce a Business Rate Supplements Bill, designed to give upper-tier local authorities (county councils, unitary authorities and, in London, the Greater London Authority) the power to levy a local supplement on the business rate and retain the proceeds for economic development.
Source: Preparing Britain for the Future: The government's draft legislative programme, Cm 7372, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft Queens Speech | Amendments
Date: 2008-May
An audit report said that a record £140 million in fraud and overpayment had been detected in local government and health services in England in 2006-07 – a 26 per cent increase from £111 million in 2004-05.
Source: National Fraud Initiative 2006/07, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | LGA press release | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2008-May
Campaigners said that if local councils were to cut publicity, management, and pension costs by just 10 per cent, they could cut expenditure by £660 million and reduce council tax by an average of 3.5 per cent.
Source: The Ten Per Cent Challenge, TaxPayers' Alliance (0845 330 9554)
Links: Report | TPA press release | LGA press release
Date: 2008-Apr
The Scottish Government began consultation on proposals to replace council tax with a local income tax. It said that more than 4 out of 5 households would be better off, or no worse off, under the plans.
Source: A Fairer Local Tax for Scotland, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Consultation document | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Mar
The government began consultation on a a strategy for giving people in every local authority area a greater say on how public money was spent, including exploring for the first time the use of 'community kitties' for projects to fight crime and tackle obesity.
Source: Participatory Budgeting: A draft national strategy – Giving more people a say in local spending, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Consultation document | DCLG press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Mar
The government announced the final local government finance settlement in England for 2008-09, and the provisional settlements for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Councils would receive £70.4 billion in 2008-09 (an increase of 4 per cent); £73.5 billion in 2009-10 (an increase of 4.3 per cent); and £76.7 billion in 2010-11 (an increase of 4.3 per cent). By 2010-11 funding to local authorities would have risen by 45 per cent since 1997, with above-inflation increases every year for 13 years. Councils would be expected to make 3 per cent efficiency gains in each year of the settlement.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 24 January 2008, columns 57-58WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCLG press release | Letter
Date: 2008-Jan
An audit report said that local authorities had made £10.8 billion from charges and fees in 2006-07 – equivalent to £210 per person. For 114 out of 386 councils surveyed, this raised more than council tax. It urged local authorities to use service charging strategically, to combat deprivation and pollution.
Source: Positively Charged: Maximising the benefits of local public service charges, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jan
A think-tank report said that people earning over £200,000 should be asked to pay a small supplementary income tax levy in order to help cut council tax bills. The measure was crucial to ensure that pressure was taken off council tax bills, allowing urgent reforms to take place without penalizing householders.
Source: Dick Sorabji, Escape from Council Tax: Curing the symptoms of failure, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report | NLGN press release
Date: 2008-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government's proposals in relation to a supplementary business rate were so circumscribed that they would fail to secure any real advance in autonomy for the majority of local authorities.
Source: Local Government Finance: Supplementary Business Rate – The Government's Response, Third Report (Session 2007-08), HC 210, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | New Start report
Date: 2008-Jan
A survey found that fewer than half of English and Welsh councils had carried out reviews into gender pay inequalities, nine months after a deadline to do so. Ending gender pay inequality would cost councils £1 billion for back pay, £1.5 billion to cover increased pay, and £400 million to provide pay protection for those who lost out from reviews. The review process had been held up by no-win, no-fee lawyers, who had taken cases to tribunals in order to gain full back pay for women – rather than the lower levels agreed between employers and unions to ensure an affordable agreement.
Source: Press release 2 January 2008, Local Government Employers (020 7664 3131)
Links: LGE press release | Guardian report | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jan