scholarly journals Disparities by deprivation: The geographical impact of unprecedented changes in local authority financing on the voluntary sector in England

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2110348
Author(s):  
David Clifford
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Disadvantaged Communities ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Deprived Areas

Over the last decade, the local government finance system in England has experienced ‘genuinely revolutionary change’: overall revenues have declined and councils are now more reliant on locally raised taxes. Importantly, the nature of change has varied geographically: urban councils serving poorer communities have experienced the biggest declines in their service spending. This paper considers the impact of these spatially uneven changes on the voluntary sector. We follow through time charities known to be in receipt of local government funding at the time of peak council budgets in 2009–2010 and describe trends in the income of these charities until 2016–2017. We show that, just as the pattern of change in local government financing has been spatially uneven, so the trend in charities’ income has varied geographically. Indeed the spatially regressive nature of recent change in charities’ income is remarkable: while the median charity in the least deprived decile of the local authority distribution experienced little change in their income, the median charity in the most deprived decile experienced a 20% decline. The results provide the strongest evidence to date that, in countries with a history of partnership between government and the voluntary sector, voluntary organisations in more deprived areas are particularly vulnerable to sizeable reductions in the level of local government spending. Indeed, by illustrating for the first time the sizeable reductions in the income of charities in disadvantaged communities, the results demonstrate an important mechanism through which ‘austerity urbanism’ becomes salient in the lives of individuals in deprived areas.

A New Financial Framework for the Local Authority Education Service in Britain

1984 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Block Grant ◽  
Government Finance ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Education Service ◽  
Financial Framework ◽  
And Control

In this paper, the point is argued that the British block grant system for local government finance is becoming increasingly inappropriate as a means of achieving both equalisation and control of local spending. It calls for a separate educational block grant which would facilitate achievement of both these objectives. Furthermore, it would clarify the fields of responsibility of British central and local government by integrating the concept of minimum standards of service provision into the grant system.

scholarly journals Baby steps: The expanding financial base of local government in Ireland

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Considine ◽  
Theresa Reidy
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Local Funding ◽  
Financial Base ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact

Abstract There are two essential elements to this paper. In the first instance, we explore the specific details of revenue and expenditure trends for local authorities over the last decade. The analysis is framed against a longer-term political context of forty years which focuses especially on the weakness of local government in Ireland. Despite an official narrative of financial overdependence on central government, the comparative examination of budgetary records of local authorities reveals considerable diversity in both the revenue and expenditure patterns of authorities across the state. While some authorities are heavily reliant on central government funding, others have a much stronger base of local funding, and indeed the financial crisis since 2008 may have increased these differences. The second dimension to the research is an exploration of the impact of the great recession from 2008 on local government finance in Ireland. Using a framework of new institutionalism, we identify the crisis as another critical moment for local government. We consider the political, economic and administrative variables which have brought local government to a financial crossroads, and we explore the potential for long-lasting financial change in local government, as well as speculating on the nature and outcome of that change.

A case study of new approaches to address health inequalities: Due North five years on

2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-31
Author(s):  
Paul W Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
The North ◽  
New Public Health ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Deprived Areas

Abstract Introduction When local councils took on responsibility for public health in England in 2013, leaders from across the north of England met to consider the scale of the challenge. As a result, Public Health England commissioned the Due North Report which outlined new approaches in tackling health inequalities. This second paper outlines what has been learnt in five years as a case study. This includes influencing devolution deals and new elected city mayors, planning for economic growth in deprived areas and developing community asset-based approaches. The paper outlines a new framework for place-based planning to reduce health inequalities. Sources of data Data was gathered from annual reports from north of England directors of public health, Office for National Statistics, Public Health England’s fingertips database and regional and national publications and strategies such as the Northern Powerhouse. Areas of agreement Devolution to English cities and councils as ‘places’ is a new opportunity to address local needs and inequalities. Due North has supported a new public health narrative which locates health action in the most fundamental determinants—how local economies are planned, jobs created and power is to be transferred to communities and connects reducing years of premature ill health to increased economic productivity. Community asset approaches to empower local leaders and entrepreneurs can be effective ways to achieve change. Areas of controversy The north–south divide in health is not closing and may be worsening. Different ways of working between local government, health and business sectors can inhibit in working together and with communities. Growing points Place-based working with devolved powers can help move away from top down and silo working, empower local government and support communities. Linking policies on health inequalities to economic planning can address upstream determinants such as poverty, homelessness and unsafe environments. Areas timely for developing research More research is needed on; (i) addressing inequalities at scale for interventions to influence community-led change and prosperity in deprived areas, and (ii) the impact of devolution policy on population health particularly for deprived areas and marginalised group. Discussion and conclusions Commissioning high profile reports like Due North is influential in supporting new approaches in reducing inequality of health through local government, elected mayors; and working with deprived communities. This second paper describes progress and lessons.

The impact of rate capping on local government expenditure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subba Reddy Yarram ◽  
Brian Dollery ◽  
Carolyn-Dung Thi Thanh Tran
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Local Council ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Expenditure Data ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

In common with higher tiers of government worldwide, Australian state governments often adopt highly interventionist ‘one-size-fits-all’ policies aimed at improving local government efficiency and performance. In this article, we employ recent expenditure data to investigate empirically the short-term impacts of rate capping on municipal expenditure in the Australian state of Victoria and to explore whether it had differential effects on spending by different types of local authorities. We find that while total spending did not fall, budgets for ‘invisible’ services, like aged care and disabled services, did decline. Our analysis also shows that the impact of rate capping on the various types of municipal expenditures is uneven between the different categories of local authority. Our findings add to the existing literature on local government finance by demonstrating that the impact of rate capping varies according to different expenditure types classified by local council categories in a non-linear population framework.

scholarly journals Fiscal Impacts of Changes in Population for Nonmetropolitan Areas of the Northeast

1978 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
William F. Fox ◽  
Patrick J. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Nonmetropolitan Areas ◽  
Fiscal Impacts ◽  
Local Government Expenditures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Specific Concern

The recent reversal in the intraregional migration into non-metropolitan areas has generated a great deal of interest in the problems of local government finance. Of specific concern are the changes in local government expenditures and revenues that have accompanied population growth and decline and related shifts in population composition in nonmetropolitan areas of the Northeast. Using a supply and demand framework, it is argued that the approach used in previous studies of examining the relationship between growth rates and various fiscal variables leads to biased inferences regarding the impact of growth. By analyzing the impacts of changes in the socioeconomic make-up of the population which often accompany growth and decline, the study increases the understanding of fiscal strains on local governments resulting from population shifts.

scholarly journals Autonomy in Budgeting Decisions of Local Government Union Councils: A Study of Bangladesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Mohammad Rafiqul Islam Talukdar
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Base System ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Government Transfers ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Impact

Considering the critical influencing phenomena, the study explores the causal mechanism of influences, as well as how such process works that lead to shape the dominant implications of influences on local government Union Councils’ budgetary autonomy, leading to the impact on their local governance.The research reveals the fact that the effects of the influencing phenomena on the budgetary autonomy of Union Councils in Bangladesh are evident with varying degrees and dimensions, but the influences do not always collide with the budgetary autonomy of Union Councils there. The indicator-based empirical analysis reveals that the magnitude of influences is almost double than that of the budgetary autonomy of Union Councils in Bangladesh. Thus, the autonomy of Union Councils in their budgeting decisions is a concern in the study of decentralization and local governance in Bangladesh.Originality and significance:The research contributed in the literature stream of public administration, specifically in decentralization, local government finance as well as budgeting, and in local governance studies. The study findings to some extent substantiated the rationality of conditional national government transfers to the sub-national governments in Bangladesh. Beyond the general theoretical and practical significance of the study, its findings led to inviting a fundamental debate on the national-local tax base system and appreciated the fact that central hindrance towards effective functioning of the local government Union Councils in Bangladesh is the crisis of ownership and competence of UP representatives.

scholarly journals Impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the use of local government funds

2021 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 01028
Author(s):  
Viktor Soltes ◽  
Jana Stofkova ◽  
Jakub Durica
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Mathematical Statistics ◽  
Government Finance ◽  
Program Structure ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

Research background: Municipalities, as entities of local government, finance the performed activities on the basis of the budget, which has a program structure. However, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, municipal incomes have declined. Municipalities therefore had to adjust their budgets and reduce expenditures, which could disrupt several processes in municipalities. Purpose of the article: The main aim of the paper is to analyse the budgets of selected local government entities and assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of funds by municipalities with an emphasis on the security area. Methods: In order to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of funds by municipalities, a detailed analysis of the budgets and final accounts of selected municipalities will be carried out. The amount of income and expenditure in these municipalities before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic will be examined. For this purpose, basic scientific methods and methods of mathematical statistics will be used. Findings & Value added: Based on the assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the budgets of municipalities, it will be possible to determine the activities that experienced the largest revenue shortfalls due to the fact that the municipalities could not finance them from their revenues. The contribution of the paper will be recommendations that should prevent such situations in the future and thus prevent the amount of damage that has been recorded as a result of the loss of income of municipalities.

The Impact of Tax and Expenditure Limitations on User Fees and Charges in Local Government Finance: Evidence from New England

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengju Zhang ◽  
Yilin Hou
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
New England ◽  
User Fees ◽  
Tax And Expenditure Limitations ◽  
Local Public Finance ◽  
Fiscal Constraints ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Expenditure Limitations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract American local government financing shifted from taxation toward user fees and charges (UFCs) in the late 1970s, with substantial efficiency and equity implications. Normatively, the shift aligns with the benefit principle; positively, the shift is often attributed to tax revolts. We test the two associations via a difference-in-differences design and a fiscal stringency measure of tax and expenditure limitations (TELs); we also test the moderating effects of overrides on TELs. Our results confirm that state-imposed TELs caused the shift in local public finance; the results are robust to change of sample and empirical strategy. This article helps explain the relationship between tax revolts and non-tax revenue and provides evidence that fiscal constraints imposed by a higher level government on a constituent level can have significant effects, including effects beyond the intent of the constraints’ framers.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF THE NIGERIAN SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS IN THE 2019 ELECTIONS: A STUDY OF FOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN OGUN STATE

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-90
Author(s):  
S. ABDUSSOBUR ◽  
D. A. YAGBOYAJU
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Ogun State ◽  
General Elections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Republic Of Benin ◽  
Civil Defence ◽  
International Boundaries ◽  
The Impact

The 2019 general elections are the sixth set of elections in Nigeria's twenty years of uninterrupted democratic experiment. Studies have concentrated on the roles of the Nigerian Army and Police in the security aspects of elections in the country with little attention paid to the impact of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in electoral security. This study investigates the significance of NSCDC in electoral security. Selected study area consists of the four Local Government Areas (LGAs) which make up Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun State. This is a strategic state in view of its international boundaries with Republic of Benin, and the history of cross border criminal acts. Data are drawn from primary and secondary sources, while the interpretative method of analysis is adopted. The study established that the Corps was very suited for election duties due to its more civil disposition and a more positive integrity and credibility perception. The study therefore recommends that the NSCDC should be legally empowered to play more active roles in election security and strengthened in terms of manpower and equipment in order to enhance its roles during elections.      

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