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Dec 4, 2024 | 
thetimes.com | David Phillips
The Scottish government has trumpeted a budget providing record levels of funding for the NHS and councils, universal winter payments for pensioners, and starting the process of ending the two-child cap on universal credit in Scotland. And comparing the amount the Scottish government plans to spend on public services in 2025-26 with the plans set out in the autumn budget, revision suggests a significant increase of 5.3 per cent in cash terms, or 2.9 per cent after accounting for inflation.
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Oct 14, 2024 | 
themj.co.uk | William Eichler |Lee Peart |David Phillips |Adam Briggs
ENVIRONMENT APSE: Parks under threat from cuts Parks and green spaces across the country are under threat from council funding cuts, the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) has warned. By William Eichler | 14 October 2024 SHARE © PBabic / Shutterstock.com Parks and green spaces across the country are under threat from council funding cuts, the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) has warned.
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Oct 10, 2024 | 
themj.co.uk | David Phillips
FINANCE The big calculation conundrum With the Budget in sight, David Phillips says that even if chancellor Rachel Reeves manages to avoid making cuts, councils will still need a laser-like focus on efficiency By David Phillips | 10 October 2024 SHARE The fiscal mood music of recent has been more than a little dissonant.
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Oct 10, 2024 | 
themj.co.uk | Adam Briggs |Pam Parkes |Lee Peart |David Phillips
Relocating responsibility and funding for public health to local authorities from the NHS in 2012 marked a milestone that was heralded as a significant extension of councils' powers. But fast forward 12 years and the cash foundations underpinning public health are looking decidedly unsafe.
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Oct 9, 2024 | 
thepublicdiscourse.com | David Phillips |Josh Craddock
When President George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court in 2005, Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht described her as “an originalist—that’s the way she takes the Bible,” and stated that it also described her approach to the Constitution: “Originalist—it means what it says.”Justice Hecht is not the only lawyer to notice a connection between originalism in law and conservative approaches to biblical interpretation.
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Sep 3, 2024 | 
thetimes.com | David Phillips
Shona Robison, the Scottish finance secretary, has a point. The options available to her to fund pay deals and other inflationary pressures are limited. With little scope to change taxes in-year, and no ability to borrow to cover public service spending pressures (in contrast to in-year benefit spending pressures or tax revenue shortfalls), that leaves cuts to other areas of spending as the only other option now on the table. A range of cuts have been announced.
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Sep 3, 2024 | 
themj.co.uk | David Phillips
FINANCE Devolution may be sexier, but funding reform is vital David Phillips says that In the excitement about devolution, it is vital not to forget another big issue facing England: the lack of a proper system for allocating funding between councils By David Phillips | 03 September 2024 SHARE Ten days into her job, the deputy prime minister Angela Rayner wrote to local government leaders promising ‘the most ambitious programme of devolution this country [England] has ever seen'. The new...
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Jul 18, 2024 | 
themj.co.uk | William Eichler |Ann McGauran |David Phillips |Emily Twinch
IMPROVEMENT Leader resigns after section 114 warning The leader of Cheshire East Council resigned yesterday ahead of a vote of no confidence after a report raised serious concerns over the council’s finances. By William Eichler | 18 July 2024 SHARE Sam Corcoran (c) Social Communications The leader of Cheshire East Council resigned yesterday ahead of a vote of no confidence after a report raised serious concerns over the council's finances.
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Jun 19, 2024 | 
thetimes.com | David Phillips
The SNP manifesto calls for UK-wide spending plans to be topped up. This is to avoid the need to cut spending on unprotected areas; and to increase spending on, in particular, the NHS, working-age benefits, overseas aid and green investment. The party argues that the cost of this could be met by UK-wide tax rises, additional economic growth from the UK rejoining the EU in the coming parliament and additional borrowing.
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Jun 18, 2024 | 
themj.co.uk | David Phillips
After the austerity of the 2010s, a look at the headline figures for local government funding would suggest councils should now be feeling more financially secure. Their core funding per resident is up around 10% in real-terms since 2019-20, after adjusting for whole-economy inflation. That is nowhere near enough to undo previous cuts, but enough to ease the pressure on council budgets and allow some expansion and improvements to services? Alas no – as you will well know.
