A report set out the government's aims for the future of 'local spending reports'. The government said that it wanted to make it easier for citizens to look right across all the local services in an area, spot evidence of duplication or waste, and hold providers to account.
Source: Making Local Public Expenditure Data Public and the Development of Local Spending Reports, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2009-Dec
A report called for the political parties to publish transparent proposals on how they would manage public service funding cuts in their forthcoming election manifestos. It put forward three strategic options that government and the public sector should consider: redefining the relationship between the state and the individual; a significant 'de-layering' of the public sector with many more decisions taken locally with minimal oversight; and a major initiative to maximize economies by much more effective collaboration between public bodies.
Source: After the Downturn: Managing a significant and sustained adjustment in public sector funding, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
Links: Report | SOLACE press release
Date: 2009-Dec
A report said that local councils needed to reassess their priorities and innovate if they were to achieve expenditure reductions of around 20 per cent by 2011. Many services, such as libraries and swimming pools, were costly and could be run more effectively by the private and third sectors. In order to achieve the necessary efficiency savings, councils should consider seriously moving beyond their existing role as 'service providers' towards becoming 'commissioning and procurement hubs'.
Source: The Bottom Line: A vision for local government, Localis (020 7340 2650) and KPMG
Links: Report | Localis press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A local authorities report identified a set of measures to remove 'unnecessary administration and red tape' that could save £4.5 billion a year without affecting local services.
Source: Delivering More for Less: Maximising value in the public sector, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Nov
A think-tank report said that large budget deficits could plunge Britain back into an era of crumbling infrastructure. Local authorities needed to plan for a new environment of constrained capital allocations from the Treasury. Councils needed to be better prepared to raise capital in novel ways in order to meet critical investment needs.
Source: Tom Symons and Chris Leslie, Capital Contingencies: Local capital finance in an era of high public debt, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: NLGN press release | Local Government Chronicle report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Oct
The Business Rate Supplements Act 2009 was given Royal assent. The Act provided for powers for county councils, unitary councils, and the Greater London Authority 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 Act 2009, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes | DCLG press release | BCC press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A think-tank report examined ways in which local government investments could be used to stimulate economic growth, improve the 'wider economy', and encourage a strong civil society.
Source: Tom Shakespeare, More for Your Money: Using local government investments to strengthen the local economy, Localis (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Localis press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by a committee of MSPs said that local authorities, trade unions, and lawyers needed to hold 'urgent discussions' on how to deal with equal pay in local government. Although an agreement on 'single status' had been reached in 1999, this had still not been implemented across all local authorities. The committee was deeply concerned by the 35,000 unresolved equal pay cases lodged with tribunals.
Source: Equal Pay in Local Government, 12th Report 2009, SP Paper 292, Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report said that European Union law on public procurement should be revised so as to allow a greater emphasis on local discretion and the needs of particular communities, rather than enforcing rigid practices that stymied creativity.
Source: Nigel Keohane, Procuring for Place: New reforms to promote local innovation and sustainability, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: NLGN press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs criticized local authorities that had invested money in Icelandic banks for inadequate financial controls.
Source: Local Authority Investments, Seventh Report (Session 2008-09), HC 164, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | CIPFA press release | BBC report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report said that dramatic cuts in public services could be avoided by giving local authorities a new power to balance their budget over three years rather than one.
Source: Chris Leslie, In the Balance: Granting local authorities new financial flexibilities to cope with the downturn, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report | NLGN press release | New Start report
Date: 2009-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that charities that lost millions of pounds when the Icelandic banking system collapsed should get a government bail-out: but local authorities that suffered the same fate should not be compensated.
Source: Banking Crisis: The impact of the failure of the Icelandic banks, Fifth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 402, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | LGA press release | CAF press release | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Apr
The Business Rate Supplements Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to 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) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 11 March 2009, columns 309-364, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Impact assessment | Hansard | CBI press release
Date: 2009-Mar
The government announced that the average guideline rent increase for local authority tenants in 2009-10 would be halved from 6.2 per cent to 3.1 per cent, in the light of exceptional economic circumstances.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 6 March 2009, columns 71-72WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) Links: Hansard | DCLG press release | LGA press release | DCH press release | London Councils press release | TSA press release | Inside Housing report (1) | Inside Housing report (2)
Date: 2009-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals for the fuller disclosure of senior staff pay and benefits in local authorities in England. There would be a new legal requirement for 475 local authority bodies to include detailed senior pay information in their annual statement of accounts, beginning in 2009-10.
Source: Consultation on Amending the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003 No. 533) to Improve Transparency of Reporting of Remuneration of Senior Officers in Public Bodies, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Consultation document | DCLG press release | LGA press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-Mar
The government announced that the average rise in council tax per household in 2009-10 would be 2.6 per cent – the lowest such increase since the tax was introduced in 1993.
Source: Press release 26 March 2009, Department for Communities and Local Government (020 7944 3000)
Links: DCLG press release | LGA press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar
An article examined the 'social division of welfare' thesis, with a particular focus on fiscal welfare and the local taxation system in England. The latter was highly regressive, with those on low and middle incomes spending proportionately more of their income paying council tax than those on high incomes: but within the debate about reform of local taxation, concern with regressivity had become obscured.
Source: Michael Orton and Rhys Davies, 'Exploring neglected dimensions of social policy: the SDW, fiscal welfare and the exemplar of local taxation in England', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 43 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Feb
The Scottish Government announced that, in the light of prospective cuts of £1 billion to its budget between 2010 and 2012, and in the absence of parliamentary support, it would not be proceeding with plans to scrap the council tax and introduce local income tax legislation.
Source: Press release 11 February 2009, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Feb
A report said that local councils could make greater savings through improved procurement processes.
Source: Bill Roots, Review of Arrangements for Efficiencies from Smarter Procurement in Local Government, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2009-Feb
The Business Rate Supplements Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was 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: Business Rate Supplements Bill, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 12 January 2009, columns 40-98, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2009-Jan