More Councils Face Financial Breaking Point as Parties Remain ‘Virtually Silent’: Think Tank

Published on June 21, 2024

Many more councils are facing a real risk of being pushed to financial breaking point, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). With polling day approaching in less than two weeks, parties are “virtually silent” on their plans to fund local authorities, leaving “significant uncertainty” about how it will be done, said the IFS think tank on Friday. The IFS analysis came weeks after England’s two representative bodies for local authorities called on parties to pledge multi-year funding deals, as well as other reforms, to help councils deal with rising costs and demand for public services. However, none of the main parties has made commitments on this, unlike in 2019, the IFS said....

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