Latest editorial
Uncollected refuse bags in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham, amid an ongoing refuse workers' strike in the city, March 17, 2025
THE government is “flying blind” on struggling council finances amid an unprecedented local audit crisis, the public accounts committee (PAC) has warned.
A new PAC report published today raises concerns that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is unable to effectively monitor worsening local authority finances.
It said that this is due to a local audit crisis whereby only 10 per cent of 426 English local authorities submitted reliable data for 2022/23, which led to the National Audit Office being unable to sign off the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) for that year for the first time ever.
With turnout plummeting and faith in Parliament collapsing, BERT SCHOUWENBURG explains how radical local government reform — including devolved taxation and removal of party politics from town halls — could restore power to communities currently ignored by profit-obsessed MPs
