Local Government Chronicle

Icelandic legacy: Local Government Chronicle

 
Iceland may not have changed everything as far as local government investment policies are concerned. But the collapse of the country’s three banks certainly had a big effect on councils, their finance directors and elected members, who have no intention of being caught-out the same way again.
 
CIPFA responded to the Iceland-related crisis by revising guidance [...]

When push comes to shove: Local Government Chronicle

Local authorities will not make sufficient progress in achieving cost savings through shared services unless they are forced to do it, a report from business advisory firm Deloitte argues.. 

 
“Having worked around shared services for several years, I am convinced making it compulsory is the only way you’ll get real value out of these projects,” says [...]

Councils must make progress on IFRS: Local Government Chronicle

 
Local authorities should by now be well advanced in their progress towards the adoption from April next year of IFRS – International Financial Reporting Standards.
 
The adoption of IFRS has serious implications for local government accounting. It has been widely reported that the assets and liabilities of some PFI contracts that were previously off-balance sheet [...]

Reform of LGPS inevitable: Local Government Chronicle

Substantial reform of the Local Government Pension Scheme is increasingly looking inevitable.  What is more, that reform is not dependent on a different government.  Even existing ministers seem determined to instigate major, perhaps even fundamental, change.
 
In June this year, DCLG began an “informal consultation exercise” in which it invited a limited number of stakeholders to [...]

California dreaming (of solvency): Local Government Chronicle

Local government in the United States is in a dire mess.  Nowhere is this more true than in the state of California, where counties, cities and the state itself are in absolute crisis.
 
If the ‘golden state’ were a nation its economy would be one of the ten largest in the world. Yet, today, it is [...]

Pensions lose £14bn: Local Government Chronicle

Local government pension funds have lost in excess of £14bn — up to 30% of their value — as a result of the global financial crisis, an exclusive analysis conducted by LGC reveals.
Responses to freedom of information (FoI) requests submitted by The Independent — and made available to LGC — also show that local government [...]

LGPS: Over and out?: Local Government Chronicle

 
It is increasingly likely – almost inevitable, it seems – that the Conservatives will form the next government. Equally probable, to judge by recent remarks, is that the incoming administration will try to ‘fix’ public sector pensions.
 
There is growing disquiet amongst the political classes and the media about public sector pensions. They are too generous, [...]

Joint working: Local Government Chronicle

 
The Conservative Party’s green paper is big on empowerment for local government. It is also – but less noticably - big on joint working by councils and the amalgamation of back office functions.
 
Perhaps it was fear that the message of ‘freeing local government from central control’ would be overshadowed that meant the Tories’ proposals on [...]

Giving healthcare a LIFT: Health Service Journal/Local Government Chronicle

 
LIFT is proving one of the great success stories of investment in public infrastructure. Not only is it delivering substantial improvements in the quality of facilities and services in primary care, but it is also facilitating better joint working between the health and local government sectors.
 
There are now 48 Local Improvement Finance Trusts, covering half [...]

A long-term approach to social care: Local Government Chronicle

Strategies that improve the quality of life can also help to cut costs.
Social care costs local government in England more than £5bn a year, with a total cost to public funds of nearly £14bn in 2008-09, according to a recent report from the Local Government Association .
Those costs have risen substantially in recent years and [...]