Immediate reflections on the budget: local government

Understand this issue

Cuts to council services likely unless cost pressures abate – even with the biggest council tax increases for 20 years

press release

Cuts to some council services are likely unless spending pressures abate, even with big increases in council tax and especially in more deprived areas

21 June 2024

Council funding is a numbers game in which everybody is losing

comment

"Local government finance is a mess that has been years in the making, but good luck trying to solve it." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.

13 May 2024

Council tax needs urgent reform – not being frozen in time in 1991

comment

The Conservatives have ruled out revaluing and reforming council tax in England as part of what they term their ‘Family Home Tax Guarantee’.

6 June 2024

Policy analysis

Scottish school spending, teachers and pupil numbers

report

Scotland’s schools are relatively well funded. Falling pupil rolls and workforce planning represent both challenges and opportunities going forwards. 

14 February 2025

The 2025–26 English Local Government Finance Settlement explained

comment

English councils’ core spending power set to increase 3.8% in real terms next year, but increases will vary hugely across the country.

18 December 2024

Which places have the highest standard of living?

comment

Measuring living standards using average household spending gives a starkly different picture of regional inequalities than using average income.

11 April 2025

Academic research

Resource windfalls, public expenditures and local economies

working paper

We show that the redistribution of natural resource tax revenues to non-extractive municipalities stimulates economic activity in local economies.

18 November 2024

Unfunded mandates and taxation

journal article

In 2006, the Chinese central government increased civil servant salaries and pensions and used either unfunded and funded mandates in different areas.

14 March 2024

What’s happened and what’s next for councils?

book chapter

We examine what’s happened and what’s next for councils in England and Wales, focusing on the short-term financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medium-term financial outlook, and planned and potential financial and service reforms over the next few years.

7 October 2021