The MJ/Localis survey on income generation in local government
Author: Localis |
The MJ and Localis have today published a study that puts spotlight on income generation as local authorities look to commercial methods to secure financial stability. Read an extract of The MJ’s write up below.
“In what is hoped will become an annual barometer of how councils are responding to this agenda, The MJ, our sister publication Local Government News, and think-tank Localis have asked senior officers and some of those below them about what their authority is doing to generate income and how they expect this to change in future.
‘Income generation is something that local authorities should have started looking at as soon as their budgets from central government started to be cut,’ said a technical officer at a London borough.
If this did not happen immediately, our research suggests income generation from commercial activity now plays a role in the vast majority of councils’ 2015/16 budgets.
For senior managers, the top ways this is being done include using council assets such as land and buildings to generate additional income streams (97%), providing chargeable services (89%) and establishing trading companies (62%).”
The study follows previous research by Localis on the growing entrepreneurial agenda within local government.