Council budget black hole continues to grow

Released On 22nd Aug 2023

A BBC investigation has revealed that a black hole in local authority budgets is continuing to grow.

According to the research, the average council now faces a £33m predicted deficit by 2025-26. This represents a rise of 60 per cent from £20m two years ago.

Unison reported that some councils would not be able to offer the "legal minimum of care" next year.

The BBC's Shared Data Unit surveyed 190 upper-tier authorities in the UK and found that council chiefs expect to be £5.2bn short of funds by April 2026. This is even after making £2.5bn of planned cuts.

Unison's head of local government Mike Short said: "This is not a sustainable situation.

"Local authorities simply don't have the funds to provide even statutory services."