The Chancellor has been urged to provide emergency funding to protect crucial services after it emerged the share of council budgets spent on protecting vulnerable children has ballooned, with allocations in some of the poorest areas more than doubling over the last decade.
Amid warnings over the financial viability of many councils, research by the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (Sigoma), which represents 47 urban councils in the north, the Midlands and on the south coast, highlights the dangers of rising costs and demand for support.
