Council finances ravaged

Council finances across England and Wales have been hard hit by having to deal with COVID-19 alongside suffering cuts, the UNISON public services union warned last month.

Huge increases in spending to fight the pandemic, coupled with a massive hit to council income streams, meant that in December 2020, top-tier councils predicted funding gaps totalling over £1 billion by the end of the financial year (March 2021), according to UNISON research.

While district and borough councils are often overlooked even more than their top-tier equivalents, they provide a range of important local services, from council housing to refuse collection and leisure facilities, the union pointed out. Its report found that in December 2020, district and borough councils predicted a collective deficit of £179 million before the end of the financial year, based on a 98% response rate out of 188 relevant councils.

Given those responses, the gap could hit £400 million in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.

UNISON warned that these funding gaps will increase as the full impact of the pandemic is realised in coming years. And, unless central government urgently acts to provide more funding for all councils, the provision of services will be put at risk.

The union’s council cuts website shows the impact of the pandemic on each top-tier council. In two months, almost 30,000 people have visited the site and over 8,000 have used the tool to contact their MPs about the issue.

https://councilcuts.unison.org.uk/data-visualisation/p/1