Outsourcing: Proceed with care

David Wedge and Colin Hilton offer some tips on avoiding the pitfalls. The recent announcement that Suffolk County Council will… Read more »

K&C, H&F and Westminster propose sharing services to cut costs

Saving admin costs through councils jointly delivering services is becoming more widespread. But the initiative of my council, Hammersmith and… Read more »

BBC exaggerates Council spending cuts

Cllr Phil Taylor, a Conservative councillor on Ealing, says talk of 30% cuts is misleading Last night on the BBC’s… Read more »

£7 billion of council finance to no longer be ring fenced

There is a report in The Times (£) this morning that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is lifting the… Read more »

Pickles scraps LAAs – and slams Islington for paying invoices twice

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, "Public Chum Number One", came Hammersmith Town Hall this morning and announced the abolition of Local… Read more »

£41 million of unnecessary council jobs identified

Climate Change Officers, Political Advisors, Diversity Officers and European Officers cost taxpayers £41 million a year. The TaxPayers' Alliance today… Read more »

Should councils run arts centres?

The BBC online offers some top tips on saving money from a Birmingham fringe meeting with Cllrs David Burbage, Stephen… Read more »

Bolton Council has no excuse for voluntary sector grant cuts

When Julie Hilling, the Labour MP for Bolton West, asked David Cameron about grants to voluntary sector from her Labour-run… Read more »

Suffolk County Council plans to become “enabling authority”

Radical plans from Suffolk County Council to reduce its billion pound costs by 30% by embracing privatisation and becoming an… Read more »

Should the Tory Conference venue be privatised?

Birmingham City Council's total debt is due to reach £2.38 billion next year. You might that that under those circumstances… Read more »

South Northants and Cherwell plan to share senior management

Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council have finalised a draft business case to consider the financial benefits of sharing… Read more »

Newport achieves balanced budget

The Conservative/Lib Dem coalition has achieved a balanced budget – on Newport City Council. The return to economic reality has… Read more »

How “resilient” is your local area to spending cuts?

Glyn Gaskarth finds a new measure interesting but queries the methodology Experian (an information services company) has ranked all the… Read more »

The principles of Town Hall cost cutting

David Wedge and Colin Hilton help councils control their budgets. Here they explain how. The economic climate in recent times… Read more »

Birmingham Council plans to redeploy staff to avoid redundancies

Birmingham City Council, run by a Con/Lib Dem joint administration, is a huge council. The Council has a budget of… Read more »