LGIU Response: Nottingham City Council issues section 114

Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGIU, said:

“Sadly this news comes as no surprise. We know that around one in ten councils are at risk of effective bankruptcy. This represents a tragedy for millions of citizens who see the services they rely on at risk even as their bills rise.

Councils have been continuing to pull every lever available to them to balance their books: raising council tax, cutting services, and spending their finite reserves, and still we are seeing an ever-increasing number of councils unable to make ends meet in the face of central government spending cuts and increasing demand for – and cost of – council services, particularly adult and children’s social care.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Councils need multi-year financial settlements where funding is connected to service demand not to political expediency and they need more powers over raising and spending their own revenue.

Nottingham isn’t the first to issue a section 114 and certainly won’t be the last. More and more well-run and effective councils are saying that they could be next.

Government is quick to point the finger at “failing councils” but the truth is we have a broken system.”