Local Authority Expenditure Reactions to Losses in Grant Aid: The Case of the Metropolitan District Councils

1986 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
R R Barnett

This paper presents the results of an initial investigation into the expenditure responses of a group of local authorities in England to a loss in grant income. The Government has restricted grant aid to local authorities in an attempt to secure restraint in the expenditure of these authorities, but (until recently) local authorities have had the opportunity to make good any loss in grant income by increasing local taxes. A central issue is, then, how much restraint in local authority expenditure is secured by a given reduction in grant aid. Reduction in grant aid is measured in this paper in terms of its impact on the local tax rate (and the average local domestic tax bill) if a local authority is to maintain the real value of its spending. An incremental budgeting type model is developed and the empirical work is concerned with the financial years 1982–1983 and 1984–1985. It is found that in the later year local authorities have been less willing to reduce their expenditure in the face of loss of grant aid. It is also found that the response of the local authorities has become more political in the sense that a statistically significant difference has developed between the responses of Labour and those of non-Labour controlled councils.

1956 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 431-549
Author(s):  
P. Geddes

SynopsisThe results of an investigation into all the valuation elements of a homogeneous group of superannuation funds relating to 75 administering Authorities and involving nearly 200 separate Local Authorities operating in Southern England are presented.The principal conclusions arrived at are:—Transferability:The element of withdrawal has been investigated in particular detail in view of the possible compulsory introduction of complete preservation of transfer rights.The true cost of introducing complete transferability (as opposed to the apparently trivial cost on any traditional valuation basis) is about 10% of the present annual outlay on superannuation, provided that transfer values are properly related to reserves.The reduction in the employee's contributions from 5% or 6% to 3% as proposed in the Labour Party's “National Superannuation” would be much more costly, the total additional burden on Local Authorities amounting to about 1½d. in the pound of rateable value.The present scale of statutory transfer values laid down by the Government Actuary is suitable in the case of bulk transfers or of transfers, at all ages, within the Local Authority field. Owing, however, to the preponderance of withdrawals at the young ages the present scale of transfer values would be unsuitable if complete transferability were introduced. It would be necessary (a) to recast the present scale of transfer values at the younger ages, or (b) to adopt the “cold storage” system, or (c) to limit the payment of transfer values in the case of transfers to employment other than Local Government employment to employees who transfer after an age not earlier than 35.Even so, Local Authorities, were they allowed to do so, could quite readily administer their own schemes side by side with a national scheme.Mortality:So far as mortality is concerned, (i) it does not appear that service mortality can be represented by any standard assured table, (ii) the mortality of age pensioners may in the particular examples be suitably represented by a select annuitants' table, (iii) the mortality of ill-health retirements may be taken as such that, as at the date of retirement, ill-health annuity values may be regarded as constant up to some given age x + n where x is normal retirement age and n is number of years by which impaired lives require to be rated up.Subject to a small ad hoc reserve, ill-health retirements may as a matter of fact be ignored in Local Authority valuations.Retirement Ages:The usual assumption that optional age retirement takes place at the earliest date at which the option is exercisable is too far removed from reality and there are grounds for suggesting that a valuation assuming all retirements to take place at one age, viz., the normal retirement age, would be preferable.Salary Scales:A warning is given as to the, usually unacknowledged, fallacies inherent in a salary scale derived from a mere consideration of average salaries at each age at a given point of time and examples are given as to the difficulty, if not the impossibility, failing the possession of powers to invest in equity shares, of providing in advance by means of a specially constructed salary scale for even a moderate annual increase in salary and wage levels.The paper closes with a description of the investment structure of 27 administering Authorities at 31st March 1955 and a discussion of some of the problems peculiar to Local Government funds—the effects of the introduction of the Local Government Superannuation Act, 1953, the various methods of modifying retirement allowances and grants, the determination of the degree of approval for income-tax purposes, the “Article 7” liability (new entrants) and apportionments of charges amongst different Authorities and amongst different departments of the one Authority.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kadar Pamuji

Regional autonomy is the right, authority, and duty to regulate autonomous regions and manage their own affairs and interests of local communities in accordance with the legislation. One of which is owned by the local authority is the authority to impose taxes. Supporting local autonomy, the local tax management policies cannot be separated from the regional autonomy policy direction outlined by the Central Government. Local Government as implementing regional autonomy in the management of local taxes tends to be subject to the rules specified by the Central Government. Changes of local tax management policies show that the government has no found raw format in the management of local taxes management yet. Management of local taxes does not show the direction to the actual implementation of regional autonomy due to dominant intervention by the central government.Key words : policy, local taxes, local autonomy


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dr. John Ntoiti ◽  
Prof. Roselyn W. Gakure ◽  
Dr. Gichuhi A. Waititu

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish the contributions of Government regulations  to financial distress facing Local Authorities in Kenya.Methodology: A descriptive research design was used to conduct the study. The study population comprised of the 175 Local Authorities in Kenya. A sample of 20 Local Authorities was selected using a stratified random sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to collect data from both the Local Authorities officers and customers of Local Authorities.   The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative responses were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Results indicated that the government regulation on Local Authority was unfair and ineffective. Results further indicated that the inadequacy or biased government regulation contributed to financial distress in Local Authorities. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that, the sources of revenue that were taken away from the Local Authorities should be reverted back to them or the government to increase funding to LA’s. Officers also suggested that some of the Acts that divert funds to other ministries/departments should be reviewed. It was also recommended that a portion of corporation tax that is paid to the government should be devolved to LA’s. The Local Authorities also need to be given more powers to increase their sources of revenue. It was also recommended that perhaps the law should be amended to enable the setting up of an anticorruption committee at the Local Authority level.  In addition, it was suggested that cap 265 should be amended so as to divorce politics from running of LA’s.Most importantly, it was recommended that the government should liaise with the Local Authorities and conduct comprehensive consultation on how a certain law would affect them before passing it. Further regulations and amendments to the existing laws should be critically examined to avoid watering the revenue base of the newly formed county governments.


Hand ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 155894472110172
Author(s):  
Dardan Popova ◽  
Kieron Young ◽  
Dorian Hobday ◽  
Ted Welman ◽  
Gurjinderpal S. Pahal

Background Due to the devastating and far-reaching impact of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, hospital resources have been redirected to protect patients and health care staff, thereby vastly reducing the capacity for outpatient follow-up within a busy Plastic Surgery and Hand Trauma center. Through the use of telephone and video technology, virtual clinics were rapidly introduced to reduce hospital footfall. Methods This retrospective cohort study analyzed patient experiences in virtual and traditional face-to-face clinics through the month of April 2020, from the second week of the government-imposed lockdown. A 5-point Visit-Specific Satisfaction Questionnaire was used to subsequently collect patients’ feedback regarding their appointments. Results A total of 107 hand injury–related follow-up appointments were recorded during the 4-week period. Sixty (56.0%) appointments were performed as a virtual consultation, and 47 (43.9%) face-to-face consultations were carried out on site. It was possible to discharge 43.3% from the virtual clinic group and 57.4% from the face-to-face group. We identified no significant difference in patient satisfaction ( P = .368, Mann-Whitney U test) between the 2 cohorts. Conclusion Virtual clinics appear to be safe and effective for the follow-up of patients with traumatic hand injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach may prove beneficial in terms of workforce organization, reducing waiting times, and providing an alternative for patients unable to attend physical appointments.


1986 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
J P Sondheimer

Local authorities in England have been set spending targets. If they exceed these targets, their central government grant is reduced, thus sharply increasing the local tax rate. The resulting spending decisions of local authorities have been analysed, in an attempt to explain their behaviour in terms of a model of rational spending behaviour in line with neoclassical consumer theory. Various families of indifference curves indicating preferences between expenditure and local tax rate increases have been tested for consistency with the actual spending decisions of the authorities, and evidence found to support such a model. Empirical results are presented. But there is evidence that other variables, such as past spending decisions and expectations about the future, also have a significant impact on spending decisions.


1989 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
M M Barrow

Game theoretic techniques are used to examine the case of local authorities facing a system of closed-ended central government grants. A diagrammatic exposition of the results from a previous paper is provided, and the results extended to cover alternative types of equilibrium. It is shown that local government behaviour may be Pareto inefficient in response to grants, the inefficiency being manifested in too high a level of local government spending. It is also shown that authorities which try to protect their local tax rate may be at a disadvantage relative to those which make a commitment to high spending.


e-Finanse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
Julita Łukomska ◽  
Jarosław Neneman

AbstractThe main purpose of this article is analysis of the relationship between local tax and fee policies in Poland. We argue that local authorities have similar and significant discretion over tax and fee policy and, therefore, they can be analysed in a similar way. Links between these policies are analysed to find out whether they are of complementary or substitutive nature. Panel data on 578 Polish municipalities from 2012 to 2016 includes information on property tax rates and tariffs for water provision and sewage disposal for households and companies and is used to run panel regression analysis and to perform a quasi-experiment. The results indicate that there is a relationship between tax and fee policies as well as that taxes and fees are complements for local authorities. Only when a property tax rate has reached a “ceiling”, the municipalities increase fees at a faster rate than comparable municipalities below the ceiling – in this case a fee can be regarded as a substitute for a tax.The paper is based on results of the “Fees for local public services - financial and political importance” research project. The project is funded by Narodowe Centrum Nauki (National Science Centre) grant number UMO-2015/19/B/HS4/02898


Troublemakers ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 119-140
Author(s):  
Stephen Crossley

This chapter focuses on the implementation of the Troubled Families Programme (TFP) and explores the changes that have been made to the programme at local levels. It highlights deviations from the national rhetoric and the way in which much of the aggressive, muscular rhetoric has been softened to reflect a more supportive approach towards families at both a local authority level and from individual workers. Local authorities have adapted the programme to make it work for them in a number of different ways and success has often been achieved in spite of the programme rather than because of it. The chapter explores how local authorities have subverted, negotiated, and resisted the national rhetoric in order to make the programme work and to achieve the targets set by the government.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-77
Author(s):  
Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin

The phenomenon of the increasing number of niqabis in Indonesia and Egypt has become  concern to the government, academics and also civil society. This is due to the involvement of the niqabis or women with the niqab in terrorist networks. Those piece of cloth covering the face is not merely the manifestation of faith but apparently entails a certain ideological doctrine of the so-called Islam kaffah (ultimate Islam) through the establishemnt of Islamic khilafah (Islamic caliphate) as opposed to democracy and modern state. This study aims at observing the extents to which the niqabis negotiate Islam and their nationalism in their respective counties in Indonesia and Egypt where Muslim are the major population. This study employed a mix of methods, qualitative and quantitative involving 205 Niqabis from Indonesia and 87 niqabis from Egypt.  The quantitative data were obtained from 292 respondents.  While the qualitiative data were collected  from 27 niqabis in-depth interview through life story technique, 6 Eqyptians and 21 Indonesians. twelve prominent figures in Egypt and  Indonesia were interviewed and two focuse group discussions were conducted in both countries involving women activists, academicians, government employees, and religious leaders. The framework of this study is the contestation between Islamism and nationalism. This study indicated that there is a significant difference between the niqabis of Indonesia and Egypt percieved the national pride. Around 30 percent of Indonesian niqabis are not proud being the Indonesian citizen while in Egypt only about 3 percent.  Bank interest is used to measure their Islamic refinement through which Niqabis in both countries share a similar view where almost 90% of them  believe that the practice is not Islamic. Moreover,  more than 50% support the Caliphate system which means that one in four niqabis consider that the existing government is thoghut (non Islamic) and nearly 15%  agree to defend Islam by means of violence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Swaidatul Masluhiya AF ◽  
Hasminar Rachman Fidiastuti

This study aimed to determine the effect of using natural masks to moisturize dry skin. This natural mask was made of ingredients that are safe to use and based on special formulations which include; bengkoang powder (2 grams), chocolate powder (1 gram), black cumin oil (0.6 ml), and honey (5 ml). This formulation was made so that the resultied mask formed paste stucture that can be directly applied. Masks were given to ten probandal women who have dry skin types and are 30-40 years old. Masks were used twice / week for six weeks (12 times usage). The instrument used to measure the moisture level of facial skin was a skin analyzer (HL-611) by directly attaching it to the face area and the results can be seen after 4-5 seconds. The data were analysed using ANOVA test 95% confidence interval and significance test using SPSS 15 for windows. The results showed that skin moisture values increased around 3.9% within 6 weeks of use, with a 0.8% increase at week 2, at week 4 there was an increase of 1.65% and at week 6 there was an increase in skin moisture by 1.4%. The moisture value of the skin on the face area (forehead, nose, chin, cheeks) showed no significant difference with almost the same value of humidity. It is recommended for dry skin types to use a face mask that contains oil as a skin lubricant and to protect water evaporation from the skin. It is necessary to do further testing on this natural mask so that safety on the skin can be guaranteed. It needs to be done so that the final product obtained meets the face mask safety quality standards set by the government. Keywords: Bengkuang; cocoa; black cumin; honey; natural mask.


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