News-in-Brief

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

Government funding for councils to increase the use of emergency accommodation for rough sleepers is to be tripled to £30m. Over 280 councils, including

With calls made in places like Surrey and Essex for the government to help write off authority debts to make local government reorganisation work,

More authorities have sent requests to the government to increase council tax above the referendum limit. Hampshire County Council has asked to be allowed

Scottish councils must heed a “cautionary tale” on system weaknesses that saw an Aberdeen City Council employee’s £1.1m fraud go undetected over 17 years.

The London Borough of Newham has confirmed it will make an application to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for Exceptional

A “bigger, bolder, and more politically courageous approach” to Bristol City Council’s budget is needed to close a £52m funding gap over the next

Worcestershire County Council will not be able to balance its 2025/26 budget without Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from government, potentially forcing the authority to

Carol Culley (pictured) has been appointed as executive director of finance and section 151 officer at Birmingham City Council on a permanent basis. Current

The City of London Corporation has announced plans to replace its existing HR, payroll, finance, and operational procurement systems with a new Enterprise Resource

Local authorities are facing a combined special educational needs (SEN) funding deficit of £4.6bn by 2026, with almost half of English councils potentially issuing

The Local Government Association (LGA) has raised concerns over the repurposing of grants and national insurance contributions (NICs) compensation in the provisional Local Government

Croydon Council is set to acquire 73 residential units for use as temporary accommodation. A council report, scheduled to be discussed on 22 January, seeks

LGPS Central, the Wolverhampton-based pool for eight LGPS funds in the Midlands, is expanding its investment team with the appointment of a former Aon

The Northern LGPS Pool, comprising the Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Merseyside pension funds has supported the first close of Heim’s UK Residential Fund.

Three Local Government Pension Scheme bodies have filed a shareholder resolution with oil and gas supermajor Shell challenging its liquefied natural gas (LNG) strategy.

Southampton City Council must avoid “taking its foot off the pedal” in addressing the “substantial” financial challenges it still faces, the chair of the

“Prudent borrowing and smart investments” continue to underpin Telford & Wrekin Council’s budget strategy as the authority published its draft budget for 2025/26. The