Once vanishingly rare, the prospect English local authorities might go bust now offers no surprise: four councils have in effect gone bankrupt in the past year; others have declared a state of “financial emergency”; a further one in five believe it is “fairly or very likely” they will become insolvent in the next 18 months.
Local government is no stranger to budget cuts – austerity has shrunk town hall spending by approximately 40% over the past 12 years. But there are fears inflationary costs and a decade of funding cuts has hollowed out the capacity of authorities to deal with four long-term existential pressures, from child protection to an ageing society.
