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Date: 30/07/2010
Public To Be Given Power To Veto Council Tax Bills
The public will be able to veto council tax increases in England above an agreed limit, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has said. Mr Pickles wants to give communities the "final say" over council tax bills by voting on them in referendums. By 2012, he wants people to be able to reject bill levels if they exceed a ceiling agreed annually by MPs. Councils could have to refund taxpayers in what Mr Pickles will call a "radical extension of direct democracy".

Please access the full article via the following link.

Date: 29/07/2010
Audit Commission Report Finds LGPS Fund Covers 75% of Liabilities
The Audit Commission today published a report on the Local Government Pension Scheme, intended to provide information for Lord Hutton's review of public sector pensions. The Commission's research has found the combined funds of the scheme only cover three quarters of its liabilities. The Chief Executive of the Audit Commission emphasised media reports about generous public sector pensions distort the picture, 'One of the key facts is the high proportion of part-time and low paid members in the LGPS. Around half of pensions in payment are below £3,000 a year'.

Please access the news article via the following link.

Date: 29/07/2010
Councils Begin To Spell Out Cost Saving Plans
Town halls across England are beginning to release details of cuts to staffing and services intended to save hundreds of millions of pounds this financial year. Employment advice and training schemes, free swimming sessions and elderly health programmes have all been nominated for the chop in councils’ spending reduction plans around the country. These are the first specific details showing exactly how councils will respond to £1.166bn of grant cuts for 2010/11 announced by central government in May. However, commentators have warned that the cuts are only a taster of the pain that will be inflicted by October’s Spending Review.

Please access the full article via the following link.

Date: 28/07/2010
Two Two-Year Settlements for Local Government Likely, Says Pickles
Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has told a LGA conference that there are likely to be two two-year local government finance settlements over the next Spending Review period. Mr pickles speaking on 27 July said he hoped the second settlement covering 2013/14 and 2014/15 would involve the beginning of 'changes of the block grant', saying “We are hoping to get the reform of local government finance in and look again [at] neighbourhoods to be the recipients of that'.

Please access the full article via the following link (NB LGC Subscriber access only)

Date: 28/07/2010
Business Leaders And Local Authorities Gather To Discuss LEPs
Minister for Regional and local economic development, Mark Prisk and Minister for Decentralisation, Greg Clark, today hosted a round table event with business groups, local authorities and think tanks to listen to their views on the creation of local enterprise partnerships. Speaking after the meeting, Mark Prisk said: “Our structural reforms call for a bottom-up approach. It’s crucial that local authorities and business work hand-in-hand to establish proposals for enterprise partnerships. Together they have the insight and understanding to set out a vision for a strong local economic future, and then decide what structures can best achieve that vision."

Please access the full article via the following link.


 

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