Crisis-hit councils in England and Wales have exclusively revealed to ITV News that the pandemic has left a multi-billion pound hole in their finances. In a special survey, we have uncovered a growing desperation.
Many local authorities warn that without government help — they could cut services.
More than 200 councils have responded to our survey and 16 of those say they’ve already discussed issuing a 114 notice, which bans all new expenditure except safeguarding vulnerable people and statutory services. The only other time that has happened in history is with Northampton in 2018.
Eighty-three per cent of councils say the government hasn’t given them enough to fill the shortfall and 22 per cent of councils have told us that if that doesn’t happen soon, they’ll have to make cuts to services.
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