Bankrupt councils

£600 million isn't going to solve the bankruptcy problem but it may just get the Tories past a GE. They have of course eviscerated Council funding over the past 14 years to the disbenefit of child and adult care services and much else. It will take about £5 billion to solve the problem. Meanwhile it's likely Council tax will go up by the maximum allowed (about 5%) and big Councils will devolve some services to Parish and Town councils which are mostly ill-fitted to take them on.

The government has allocated additional funding to councils this week. Anybody would think it was an election year.
www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-a-further-600-million-boost-for-councils#:~:text=Councils%20across%20England%20will%20receive,Up%20Secretary%20has%20announced%20today.

karmalady

The lib dems were fully in control in somerset and they have put the county into a fine mess

Not so. The former County Council was Tory controlled and claimed that assimilating the District Councils (Lib Dem) into the new Unitary authority would result in enormous savings which appear not to have been produced.

I can remember having this very discussion on GN when I first joined in 2011 - in which we said then that cutting council budgets would lead to much poorer services and struggling local councils.

It has taken the Tories 10 years to trash the local councils.

They are well on the way to doing the same with the NHS, and so much else.

Council budgets have been slashed for decades. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, karmalady. Tory councils are in trouble too.

The lib dems were fully in control in somerset and they have put the county into a fine mess

🤔 I would think it’s your second suggestion WWM.