This report establishes the amounts of revenue support grant (RSG) and non-domestic rates (NDR) to be paid to local authorities in 2010-11, and the basis of their distribution. The final figures for 2010-11 confirm those originally published in January 2008. Total formula grant for 2010-11 will be £747m, or 2.6 per cent, higher than in 2009-10 on a like-for-like basis. Specific grants, such as the Dedicated Schools Grant, are on top of these figures and bring the total increase in funding for local authorities to 4 per cent in 2010-11.

Report by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government under section 78A of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. On cover and title page: Local government finance (England)

This report, made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, sets out the determination for the financial year 2011/12 of the amount of Revenue Support Grant for that year, what amount of the grant he proposes to pay to receiving authorities and what amount of the grant he proposes to pay to the specified body. The report also sets out the basis on which the Secretary of State proposes to distribute among receiving authorities the amount which falls to be paid to such authorities for the year 2011/12 under Part V of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. It also sets out the specification of the amount arrived at under paragraph 9 of schedule 8 to the 1988 Act and, under paragraph 10 of that schedule, the basis on which the Secretary of State proposes to distribute among the receiving authorities the distributable amount for 2011/12

The Barnett Formula is the mechanism used by the United Kingdom Government to allocate more than half of total public expenditure in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Formula has been used for the last thirty years to determine the annual increase in allocation (the increment). Each year these increments are added on to the previous year's allocation (the baseline) to create what is now a significant block grant of funds. The Formula accounted for almost £49 billion of public spending in 2007-08. Despite the political changes within the United Kingdom the Formula has continued to be used and has never been reviewed or revised. The Formula was only intended to be a short term measure and should no longer be. A UK Funding Commission should be established to assess relative need in the UK's regions and advise on a new method of distributing funding to reflect those needs. The baseline has never been reviewed to take account of changing population patterns; this means that the grant provides funds without reference to the needs of each of the countries and regions of the UK. There should be a link between the grant of funds made to each of the administrations and their actual per capita funding needs. The Committee's research suggests that England and Scotland have markedly lower overall needs per head of population than Wales and Northern Ireland. The Committee suggest that the UK Funding Commission undertake an assessment of relative need now and in the future and that they undertake periodic reviews as well as publish annual data about the allocation of funding between the devolved administrations.

The global financial crisis of 2007-08 was triggered by sub-prime mortgage mis-selling in the US and the global sale of these debts as new bonds. Austerity programmes are designed to reduce the borrowing that governments undertook to stabilise failing banking systems but the UK's Coalition government is using 'austerity' as a cover to dismantle the welfare state. Housing is at the forefront of these changes. Mortgages and rental costs are rising as 'the market' dictates them, while people with low incomes now receive substantially less financial help from the welfare state. In this much-needed text by an experienced author with a policy background, current housing finance issues (and their history) are linked with broader social policy and political themes. It covers the finance of building and refurbishment, managing and maintaining property for all the different tenures (owner occupation, council housing, housing association and private renting), and discusses whether current arrangements are sustainable. Written for housing, social policy and politics students and staff, it is also accessible to anyone concerned about housing in Britain today.

On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees

Local government expenditure represents about a quarter of all public expenditure, and the data are used in the monitoring of public expenditure and the compilation of the national accounts. Local government finance data are also used by the Government to inform the allocation of resources to local government and the development and monitoring of local government finance policy. It is also used more widely, by local authorities (including fire, police, transport and waste authorities, libraries and schools), central government, private sector businesses and the general public. This volume contains detailed outturn summaries of local government expenditure and income for years up to 2010-11, the latest year for which complete information is available, and estimates for 2011-12. It brings together local government finance topics all in one place. Topics include revenue expenditure and financing, capital expenditure and financing, local tax, borrowing and investments, pensions and pay and workforce. The structure and responsibilities of local government are also presented.

In its report of last year on the Communities and Local Government's Departmental Annual Report 2007 (HC 170, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215037978) the Committee commented on the particular nature of the Department's work: on its unusual reliance for the achievement of the goals Government has set it on a plethora of other Departments, agencies, non-departmental bodies, local authorities and other stakeholders; on the long, devolved delivery chains by which those goals therefore have to be delivered; and on the skills of influence, brokering and negotiation which are required to achieve them. In this Report the Committee assesses the progress made since last. The most recent Cabinet Office Capability Review concludes that there has been a positive "direction of travel" for CLG in that period, but the Committee concludes that there is still some way to go before CLG can be said to be performing at the highest achievable level of effectiveness. The Department's overall performance against its Public Service Agreement targets is likewise moving in the right direction but still short of full effectiveness. Achievement of efficiency targets is applauded. Finally, the report considers examples of particular policies which highlight some of the Department's strengths and weaknesses, and follow up some issues in earlier inquiries. These issues include: eco-towns; the Decent Homes programme; Home Information Packs; Fire Service response times; Firebuy; the FiReControl programme. The report also considers the Department's response to the serious flooding of summer 2007, and to the reviews which followed; and the mismanagement of European Regional Development Fund monies.

Despite growing fiscal devolution, efficient and effective intergovernmental transfers – the transfer of money from central to lower levels of government – remain a vital sub-national government financing in developing countries. This research study examines different approaches to intergovernmental transfers (ICTs) in developing countries in the Commonwealth, and assesses their relative strengths and weaknesses. It includes detailed case studies of India and Kenya, lessons learned from IGT systems in Australia and the United Kingdom.

In recent years, the United Kingdom has become a more and more divided society with inequality between the regions as marked as it has ever been. In a landmark analysis of the current state of Britain’s regional development, Philip McCann utilises current statistics, examines historical trends and makes pertinent international comparisons to assess the state of the nation. The UK Regional–National Economic Problem brings attention to the highly centralised, top down governance structure that the UK deploys, and demonstrates that it is less than ideally placed to rectify these inequalities. The ‘North-South’ divide in the UK has never been greater and the rising inequalities are evident in almost all aspects of the economy including productivity, incomes, employment status and wealth. Whilst the traditional economic dominance of London and its hinterland has continued along with relative resilience in the South West of England and Scotland, in contrast the Midlands, the North of England, Northern Ireland and Wales lag behind by most measures of prosperity. This inequality is greatly limiting national economic performance and the fact that Britain has a below average standard of living by European and OECD terms has been ignored. The UK’s economic and governance inequality is unlikely to be fundamentally rebalanced by the current governance and connectivity trends, although this definitive study suggests that some areas of improvement are possible if they are well implemented. This pivotal analysis is essential reading for postgraduate students in economics and urban studies as well as researchers and policy makers in local and central government.