Harry Fone: Nearly 3,000 council officials are on six figure pay packages – including rewards for failure

Plus: Pet projects in Durham, with a £50 million new HQ. Councillors in Wolverhampton increase their allowances by 17 per cent.

John Redwood: Ministers must get a grip on wasteful public spending

If the government is providing the money for public services, it needs more control over how that money is spent.

Harry Fone: Havering’s Council Tax hike has no justification

How can it be fair that local residents are hit financially, yet councillors’ allowances and executive remuneration have both increased?

Harry Fone: Cut the number of councillors, not just their allowances

Plus: Gwynedd Council should not take the day off for St David’s Day. In Warrington, the nightmare that is council energy companies returns.

Harry Fone: Councils need to get back to basics on their spending priorities

From failing energy companies, to white elephant projects, many local authorities have continued to pour public money down the drain.

Harry Fone: Councillor allowances should not be used to fund political parties

Council staff and administrators are often handling the financial transactions via the payroll. It gives a motive to push spending up.

Harry Fone: Councils have saved millions on their printing bills

With new leadership in many local areas, there is lots of potential for bold and innovative ways to save money.

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.

Simon Cooke: Local authorities must offer high pay to recruit chief executives who are up to the job

Councils with poor management and leadership need to recruit the best people to senior roles to sort out their failings.

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.

Chris Whitehouse: Councillor allowances should go up, not down

We need to ensure we are attracting those who can deliver effective and efficient services to our local communities.

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.

Teresa O’Neill: Cutting the costs of Bexley’s politics

We have reduced the number of councillors by 30 per cent and we froze allowances for nine years running.

Gareth Lyon: By professionalising councillors, we are repeating Parliament’s mistake at a local level

Ever greater state funding is being followed by ever greater statism in political thought – and the decline of independent thought.