Economic turbulence and a volatile national policy landscape are preventing councils from delivering regeneration, housing and infrastructure projects, new research reveals.
New research from SCAPE and the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) found that over 40% of senior local authority officers do not believe their council is well positioned to deliver on its current capital ambitions.
The report, Delivering Through Changereveals that disruption strikes hardest at the earliest stages — business cases, scoping, planning and procurement — with 64% citing cost inflation or market volatility as the primary cause.
A further 34% fear local government reorganisation will negatively affect delivery in the short term.
Skills shortages compound the problem, with 40% identifying gaps in commercial expertise as a major barrier.
The most sought-after remedy is stability: 57% want trusted long-term procurement frameworksand nearly all respondents are calling for greater funding certainty from central government.
