Harry Fone: Profligacy is to blame for the Council Tax rise in Wolverhampton

Plus: Waltham Forest’s proposed “consultancy support for a strategic reset” sounds like something from David Brent.

Harry Fone: Almost 700 council staff are paid over £150,000 a year

Nottingham City Council paid nine staff over £100,000 a year. What did local taxpayers get for their money? A failed council-owned energy company.

Harry Fone: Councillors in Walsall give themselves a big increase in allowances

Plus: The residents of Tunbridge Wells are left with the bill for their council’s Calverley Square vanity project.

Harry Fone: Whip withdrawn on Conservative councillors in Kent – for opposing Council Tax rise

Plus: Bean bags, ping pong tables, and padded pods, in Slough’s swanky new council offices.

Harry Fone: Holding council meetings online can save millions in travel expenses

Plus: Why is Sandwell Council spending £10,000 for a lighting company to project messages onto buildings?

Harry Fone: Parish councils can waste money too

The removal of the precept, a virtually guaranteed source of income, could well lead to greater fiscal prudence.

Harry Fone: Reserves should be used to limit Council Tax rises. If this isn’t a “rainy day”, what is?

Plus: Why are Police and Crime Commissioners asking for more money for keyrings and stress balls?

Harry Fone: £255 million a year is spent on councillor allowances. That is where the economy drive should begin.

Plus: White elephants in Brighton – and Nottingham’s inept venture into the energy market.

Harry Fone: Bristol is consulting on a Council Tax rise. But will it take any notice of the response?

Plus: Stoke cuts bloated management. Would Thatcher have approved of £100,000 of public funds for her statue?

Harry Fone: How to avoid Croydon’s fate

Councils should only enter into the investment world if they know what they’re doing. They must remember that public money is at serious risk.

Harry Fone: Sheffield City Council employs 24 press officers

Residents want low taxes and regular bin collections, not big PR budgets and regular spin.

Harry Fone: Local councils “cut to the bone?” Not if our Town Hall Rich List is anything to go by.

In the last financial year, there were over 500 council employees earning more than the Prime Minister.