BAD NEWS: Jeremy Hunt
COUNCILS across England are lurching towards bankruptcy because of government cuts, two surveys found yesterday.
The risk of bankruptcy is escalating after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement, which made no provision for local authorities to cope with rising inflation.
A survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) found that 20 per cent of council leaders and chief executives believe it likely that they will have to legally declare they cannot balance their books over the next year.
After years of austerity and denial under a new Reform UK council, a failing Send service was pushed into the spotlight by staff, unions and parents — culminating in a £1.3m funding boost and a 50% increase in front-line workers. MARTIN PORTER explains
Holding office in local government is a poisoned chalice for a party that bases its electoral appeal around issues where it has no power whatsoever, argues NICK WRIGHT