Unison has said that the figures, based on information from local authorities, show council funding is in a “dire state”, with likely cuts to essential services and jobs, including rubbish collection and recycling.
The report, Councils on the Brink, has warned that failure to rectify the growing problem soon risks “the widespread collapse of local government”.
The specifics
According to Unison’s research, the five councils with the biggest predicted shortfalls for 2025/26 account for a half-billion-pound funding gap. These are Hampshire county council (£132m), Bradford city council (£126m), Birmingham city council (£119m), Somerset council (£104m) and Leicester city council (£90m).
The funding gap measures the difference between each council’s income and the amount needed to maintain promised service levels. But as the shortfall grows between the cash local authorities need and what they actually have to spend, crucial services and jobs are being “slashed”.
In March this year, Birmingham city council approved what is said to be one of the biggest local government cuts packages in history – including plans to reduce waste collections, as well as scrap up to 600 jobs.
In England alone, the gap is expected to reach £3.4bn by 2025/26, significantly surpassing the £2.3bn projection published by the Local Government Association for English councils in June.
‘Years of austerity’
Unison said that “years of austerity” mean services have already been cut “substantially”, with “widespread job losses and a reduction in vital support” for some of the UK’s most deprived areas.
Unison general secretary, Christina McAnea, said: “Councils are teetering on the brink of financial disaster. Countless essential services and very many vital jobs are at risk, with terrible consequences for communities across Britain.
“After 14 years of ruthless austerity, the very fabric of local society is under threat. Councils are quite simply the linchpin of local areas, so when services go, many people are left vulnerable, with no one to pick up the pieces.
“Local authorities were clobbered by the previous government, whose harsh financial settlements left councils with no option but to sell off the family silver, auction off green spaces, close key community facilities and let thousands of workers go. Only swift and decisive action to stabilise local finances will do.
“Labour has inherited a mess, with essential services battered and bruised. The new government understands the value of healthy public services and the role they can play in generating economic growth, in a way its predecessors simply didn’t. So as tough as the financial situation may be, ministers cannot ignore the terrible plight of authorities of every political persuasion.
“There’s an unquestionable need to turn the page on the destructive cuts of the past and invest in services and staff to help councils rebuild Britain.”
Councils on the Brink can be read here in full.
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