Common Wealth cited the example of the Warmer Homes consortium, led by Portsmouth city council, which was allocated 22m among 31 authorities over three years. This breaks down to about 450-650 homes per year, or 15-20 homes per local authority per year.
New figures obtained by 'Irish Independent' show costs surpassed €1bn for the first time in 2024 Justice Minister reveals almost €950m was spent on accommodation by the end of October in 2025 Calls for spending to be 'better scrutinised'
A catastrophic decision by the Ministry of Justice to sign a 10-year lease on a prison where high levels of a poisonous gas had been detected is expected to cost the UK taxpayer more than 100m, parliament's spending watchdog has concluded. The public accounts committee said the 2022 deal to rent HMP Dartmoor from the Duchy of Cornwall was signed in a blind panic by senior civil servants looking to guarantee prison places.
We are working through the first version of the integrated plan we hoped would give us that [assurance]. I can tell you now that [plan] goes beyond March 2028 and it goes beyond our cost profile, and we are working to improve that,
The Bundesbank now predicts GDP will expand by 0.6 percent in 2026, down from a June forecast of 0.7 percent. Growth is expected to pick up to 1.3 percent in 2027, it said. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said that next year's recovery will be driven by "public spending and a rebound in exports," as major government outlays on infrastructure and the military start impacting the broader economy.
At the first Budget, she said there was a £22bn black hole. With £40bn of tax rises, she said that was sorted, so she wouldn't come back for more. Now, the black hole is £34bn so taxes are going up again. People work hard to make their lives better and all she's doing is coming back for more and more tax.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) latest report shows that growth is down to just 0.1%, unemployment is up to 5% and the expectation is it that this will not improve. The economy is in a downward spiral; Labour cannot pull the country out of the fiscal black hole with tax rises alone, ultimately, spending needs to come down and fast.
If you're talking about productivity improvements - improvements of service of the value of £45 billion - that could be delivered with existing spending. I think that is more achievable. There is certainly kind of inefficiency, duplicative spending across the public sector that you could spend more effectively so but without knowing more about where that £45 billion comes from, it's harder to say.
Santa Clara County leaders are asking voters to approve Measure A, a five-eighths-cent sales tax increase on the Nov. 4 ballot, claiming more taxes are needed to support health care services. Before county officials hit hardworking residents with more taxes, voters need one simple question answered: Where is all our money going? Santa Clara County's budget exceeds $13 billion annually, more than the budgets of 19 states.
The Government's plan to cut the rate of Vat for hospitality from 13.5pc to 9pc took quite a pounding last week with Budget Day looming. First came the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) which upped the ante on the issue by highlighting how much the cost of the measure could be worth to workers in tax cuts, or how many more teachers could be hired if the money went into education instead of to pubs and restaurants.
The youth-led protesters are decrying what they see as alleged rampant corruption at the public's expense. At least three people have died in Morocco during protests against alleged corruption and decisions in public spending, as the country braces for a sixth night of demonstrations. Security forces opened fire on demonstrators on Wednesday, killing three people in Leqliaa, a small town outside the southern city of Agadir.
Trade unions in France are carrying out another day of widespread nationwide strikes, heaping pressure on the newly appointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to reverse an existing austerity programme and halt any new public spending cuts. France's Ministry of the Interior said approximately 85,000 people had turned out across the country by midday on Thursday, excluding Paris a figure lower than a strike two weeks earlier, which drew much larger crowds, indicating lower overall turnout.
She added that any borrowing from the reserve - which amounted to £9 billion last year but is being halved in 2025 - would have to be repaid. The Reserve is intended for "genuinely unforeseen, unaffordable and unavoidable pressures" but has in recent years been used to fund public sector pay deals and compensation settlements.
The Betterpoints app has cost Southwark council £171,000 with only 1,300 active users, raising concerns over its effectiveness and value for money.
Milei managed to fulfill one of his campaign promises: radically cut inflation, which had reached a record monthly rate of 25 percent in December 2023. Now at 1.6 percent, the monthly rate is among the lowest since April 2020.
Jennifer Whitmore accused the government of being 'epic wasters', stating public spending has increased by 50% alongside a deteriorating housing crisis and record homelessness.
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