Waste collections, libraries and leisure centres all face being hit as local authorities struggle to make ends meet.
A report warns that cash-strapped councils are grappling with a £3.5 billion funding black hole for next year, risking cuts to jobs and essential services as town halls struggle to balance the books.
Research by Unison found almost a third of local authorities are at least £10 million short of the money they need, while 4 per cent have a funding gap of about £40 million.
The union warned that town halls will be forced to consider selling land and buildings, slashing services for the vulnerable, and vital community resources such as waste collection, libraries and leisure centres.
Birmingham City Council and Thurrock Council, which have both effectively declared themselves bankrupt, have the worst funding gaps based on data from 369 (out of 371) local councils across Britain for 2024/25.
It comes after almost a third of councils in impoverished areas said they were considering issuing Section 114 notices, which would freeze all non-essential spending, according to the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities.
Birmingham is £164 million short of its spending needs for next year, while Thurrock, in Essex, has a gap of £157 million, data acquired through freedom of information requests reveal.
Sheffield City Council and Bradford City Council both face funding gaps of about £72 million, while Liverpool City Council is short by more than £67 million.
Of the 371 councils, only 62 (16.7 per cent) reported no funding gap for 2024/25.
Uninson warned that the situation is expected to deteriorate further without a major cash injection in the Autumn Statement.
It estimates the overall funding gap could increase to £7 billion in 2025/26 without intervention.
Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea said that communities rely on their local authorities for all manner of essential services, such as waste collection, road repairs and parks and other open spaces, but that councils were on their knees. Ministers seem to care very little about public services and local government has been hit hard over the many years.
She said that essential services can’t run on thin air. Staff levels had already been cut to the bone in desperate attempts to balance the books. Yet more service cuts and job losses are sadly inevitable across the country unless the government intervenes with the lifeline of significant extra funding.
Libraries have been at risk for a long time anyway. How often do you see someone reading a book and if they do then it’s usually the older, pre-smart phone generation.
The problem is that councils have overspent our money on vanity projects, rather than the basic needs of the public. What have the council done with the money that we pay every month for Council Tax? Well, they spent it, that’s what they did! It’s like me giving away my income but I still need to pay bills, somehow.
It won’t be long before our streets look like the back alleys of Mumbai, and why are our roads being altered for no reason, taking months on end and people sitting around in vans all day with their feet up on the dash having an extended coffee break, no wonder councils are bankrupt.
It would be more cost-effective to get rid of some of the council’s top-tier managers who get a significant salary for not doing very much.
How vital are these people to the running of a borough, are they really that necessary? And the Government making substantial cuts to councils, stopping vital services isn’t going to help either side.
Councils employed their own refuse workers, they had their own refuse carts, and it worked extraordinarily well. They should go back to that instead of hiring our private contractors to do the job.
We the people have to suffer, yet councillors still get pay raises, bonuses, cars, and any other type of freebies that they can get their grubby hands on – this has to stop, now!
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 