UK councils to get new borrowing powers

Steve Hards

In his speech to his party’s conference, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg signalled the Coalition Government’s approach to public funding and the forthcoming cuts in public spending: allow councils more freedom to borrow against future income and a further move against ringfencing those funds that do still come from central government. In short, “you’re on your own”. We have seen in the past that more local freedom for councils is a double-edged sword when it comes to new, minority interests (as telehealth, and even telecare, is still seen in many places) even if there are potential savings and cost-effective benefits. Report of speech by eGov monitor.