Today in Westminster, most attention will be focused on Jeremy Hunt’s budget. In what will likely be the last Conservative budget for some time, the Chancellor is set to drop some election-sweetening tax cuts while kicking off the tougher decisions to another year. In council chambers across the country, however, there is little such luxury as they work through their budgets for the next fiscal year. A decade of squeezed income and rising costs is biting harder than ever, pushing local government to crisis.
For those who cannot balance the books, Section 114 notices loom. This is effectively a form of insolvency, curtailing new spending and forcing drastic cuts to all but statutory services. From 1988 to 2018, this happened just five times. Since then, there have been eleven, despite several rounds of emergency grants from the government. The Local Government Association warns that more than two dozen could tip into this scenario in the next two years.
The outcome of this is pretty bleak for the residents of these places. In Birmingham, the biggest council to go S114, locals face increased bills and poorer services. Council tax will rise by 10% each year for the next two years, while any spare spending will be shaved away. Bin collections will be less frequent, libraries will be closed, and even the streetlights will be dimmed to make slim savings. It will be a regional acceleration of the shit state and will mean misery for those who rely on services.
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