UK will need to double nature protection funding to meet targets, new data shows
#NatureProtection #UKEnvironment #Conservation #Funding #Biodiversity #Sustainability #EnvironmentalTargets #ClimateAction

Charity leaders have warned of the “devastating knock-on impact” of the financial crisis in English town halls, as evidence emerges of cuts and closures at local voluntary groups, where vital grant funding has been cut by stricken councils.

Citizens Advice and Age UK – two of the UK’s biggest and best known charities, overseeing networks of hundreds of local branches providing vital care, advice and support to millions of people every year – said it was “deeply troubling” that the crisis was putting voluntary services at risk.

#finance #voluntary #network

https://www.theguardian.co...

The financial crisis facing England's councils is "out of control" with even well-run local authorities at risk of going bust, MPs have warned.

A cross-party committee said the government must plug a £4bn funding gap to avoid a "severe impact" on services.

They also called for council tax to be reformed, describing the current system as "outdated" and "regressive"
#Uknews #latestnews
#BBC #UKPolitics
Read more
https://www.bbc.com/news/u...

In 2011, two senior council managers in north London put together a PowerPoint graph that they felt might help kick off a useful discussion with colleagues about the future of local government. What would happen, they asked, if town hall funding flatlined, while demographic pressures continued to rise steadily?

The answer, they suggested, lay in what became known as the Barnet Graph of Doom. It indicated that the council would, within 20 years, expend all its available resources on meeting the needs for adult social care and children’s services. There would be simply be no cash left for lib

London’s councils are preparing to mothball schools to avoid a boom and bust cycle of closures, as the falling birthrate, high housing costs and the aftermath of Brexit and the Covid pandemic drive down the number of children living in the capital.

With some areas of London projected to see the number of primary school-aged children fall by 10% or more by 2028, councils say they are struggling to support schools to stay open as pupil funding dries up.

#councils #schools #project

https://www.theguardian.co...

Walkers wanting to enjoy footpaths across the British countryside are being blocked or obstructed in nearly 32,000 places across England and Wales.

But they are fighting back, with one rambler even training as a lawyer to force councils to keep the way .investigation found councils which have responsibility for footpaths had 4,000 more access issues on public rights of way in 2023 than in 2022.

Campaigners said this showed a "growing abuse and neglect" of the path network.

Local authorities said "funding constraints" limited what they can do.

A drawing of Queen Victoria and an aircraft navigational system are among the items missing from museums in England.

Freedom of information requests by the PA news agency to museums and galleries that receive public funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) asking for details on absent items from the last 20 years found that more than 1,700 items were absent from collections