UNISON opinion: Why councils are on the brink – and how they can be pulled back

By UNISON’s head of local government Mike Short

Local government is in the news. But not for the right reasons.

The Daily Mail asks “Is your council about to go bust?”, the Mirror tells us that every single local authority, bar one, is experiencing cuts to funding and the Guardian reports that councils are resorting to crowdfunding to maintain their schools.

We hear about the youth clubs that have closed and the Christmas lights that won’t be switched on. Each day there’s news that another council can’t balance the books, more services are being cut or closed down and jobs are on the line.

And every single cut and closure has an impact.

It’s not surprising that councils are on the brink of bankruptcy. They’ve faced thirteen years of significant reductions to their funding.

By 2019 councils had 41% less government income than they did in 2010, all this while demand for services is growing.

There are more people who need social care, more young people who need extra support in schools, more people who don’t even have a home to live in.

UNISON’s research shows the extent of these cuts. Over a thousand council-operated youth centres have closed. Even more council operated children and family centres have closed since 2010.

Around 800 council libraries have closed. Each of these represents a place where people could find support, advice and information, places to learn, create social connections. With violent crime soaring and vaccination rates dropping youth centres and family centres are more, not less, important than ever before.

UNISON has a vision for local government. Good local government should be the foundation of a good society, ensuring that each neighbourhood has the facilities and amenities for a decent quality of life.

We need well-maintained roads and pavements, well-lit streets to help ensure safety at night, parks and playgrounds, leisure centres and libraries for everyone to access regardless of income and age.

Local government should be based on democracy, run by local politicians who can be held accountable for the services in their area.

Good local government can make such a difference – support for the most disadvantaged and isolated like day centres for the elderly and disabled, holiday schemes for young people, advice for refugees and refuges for survivors of domestic violence.

That is why UNISON is prioritising our campaign for better local government. We are calling for local authorities across the whole of the UK, to be well funded by central government, so that they are to be able to provide the high quality services that we all need in our communities.

Councils should be able to employ people doing this valuable work on secure, decent, well-paid contracts so that they are valued, recognised and well-rewarded for the important work they do.

Local government is the key to creating a sustainable and fairer future – to greening our towns, to reaching net-zero targets through insulation, better public transport and waste – and ensuring that regional disparity is a thing of the past. It’s the key to creating inclusive communities – ones in which young people can develop and thrive.

If you value these services then please write to your MP, MSP or Senedd member to call for more urgently needed council funding via our campaign action site.

The article UNISON opinion: Why councils are on the brink – and how they can be pulled back first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Council bailout cash not even a short-term fix, says UNISON 

Commenting on government plans to provide councils with emergency bailout money announced today (Wednesday), UNISON head of local government Mike Short said:

“Such is the desperate state of most councils’ finances that this cash injection merely staves off the immediate threat of bankruptcy for some. But others could still go under in the coming months.

“Sadly, ministers have yet to understand councils need proper and sustained funding, not panicked quick fixes to keep the wolf from the door in an election year.

“Under-pressure local authorities will jump at the chance of extra money, but emergency bailouts won’t magic away the massive financial shortfall councils face. Nor will they provide the resources needed to get vital public services back on track.”

Note to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Dan Ashley M: 07908 672893 E: d.ashley@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Council bailout cash not even a short-term fix, says UNISON  first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Council bailout cash not even a short-term fix, says UNISON 

Commenting on government plans to provide councils with emergency bailout money announced today (Wednesday), UNISON head of local government Mike Short said:

“Such is the desperate state of most councils’ finances that this cash injection merely staves off the immediate threat of bankruptcy for some. But others could still go under in the coming months.

“Sadly, ministers have yet to understand councils need proper and sustained funding, not panicked quick fixes to keep the wolf from the door in an election year.

“Under-pressure local authorities will jump at the chance of extra money, but emergency bailouts won’t magic away the massive financial shortfall councils face. Nor will they provide the resources needed to get vital public services back on track.”

Note to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Dan Ashley M: 07908 672893 E: d.ashley@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Council bailout cash not even a short-term fix, says UNISON  first appeared on the UNISON National site.

The cash crisis in councils is worsening by the day

Commenting on a new report from the Local Government Association published today (Friday), which suggests councils in England face a funding gap of £4bn over the next two years, UNISON head of local government Mike Short said:

“The cash crisis in local authorities is worsening by the day. That will mean even more cuts to services and further hardship for communities everywhere.

“Without significant extra funding from ministers for all councils urgently, many more will be on the brink of financial ruin. That will be a disaster.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article The cash crisis in councils is worsening by the day first appeared on the UNISON National site.

The cash crisis in councils is worsening by the day

Commenting on a new report from the Local Government Association published today (Friday), which suggests councils in England face a funding gap of £4bn over the next two years, UNISON head of local government Mike Short said:

“The cash crisis in local authorities is worsening by the day. That will mean even more cuts to services and further hardship for communities everywhere.

“Without significant extra funding from ministers for all councils urgently, many more will be on the brink of financial ruin. That will be a disaster.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article The cash crisis in councils is worsening by the day first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Councils face “dire” cash crisis totalling more than £3.5bn

Local councils have a hole in their finances exceeding £3.5bn collectively for the coming financial year, making it extremely likely they will have to make huge cuts in essential services and jobs, says a report published today (Friday) by UNISON.

The figures, based on information gathered from local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, show the true scale of the dire state of local government funding, says the union.

Many authorities will be forced to consider selling land and buildings, as well as slash services for the vulnerable and vital community resources such as waste collection, libraries and leisure centres, UNISON warns.

The list is headed by Birmingham City Council, which is £164m short of its spending needs for next year, followed by Thurrock Council with a gap of £157m. Both councils have effectively declared themselves bankrupt in recent months after issuing section 114 notices.

Other authorities with severe cash shortfalls, according to UNISON’s research, are Hampshire County Council on £82m, Sheffield City Council which is short some £72.7m and Bradford City Council has £72m less than it needs.

The UNISON research Councils Under Pressure shows there are 114 councils (31%) that are at least £10m short of their planned spending requirements, while 15 (4%) are as much as £40m adrift.

The record combined shortfall totals almost £3.57bn across councils in the three nations for 2024/25. It means the local authorities will be forced to rely on virtually non-existent cash reserves. All are likely to have to make cuts to services and their workforces, says UNISON.

The situation is set to worsen too with the cumulative funding gap rising even further in 2025/26 to over £7bn, warns UNISON.

Regardless of their overall political control, the future is bleak for councils with increased energy costs, a decade and more of reduced government funding and inflation all worsening their financial position, the union adds.

The huge scale of the budget shortfall across local government means a growing number of councils are teetering on the brink, UNISON warns.

This precarious state of council budgets couldn’t come at a worse time with thousands of families ever more reliant on community services due to cost of living pressures, adds UNISON.

The shortfalls increase the risk that many authorities will consider raising their council tax as high as possible next time, says the union.

UNISON’s research is based on data relating to 369 (out of 371*) local councils across Britain. It found that the vast majority (86%) have a predicted budget gap, with just 52 (14%) saying they are on course to balance the books.

Most are responding to the crisis by cutting services and activities, including:

  • Hampshire is reviewing its school crossing patrols, putting up to 45 jobs at risk.
  • Woking has put 350 workers across the authority on notice of redundancy.
  • Kirklees has said it plans to axe 250 jobs between October and next March.
  • Kent is considering the closure of 37 children’s and youth centres across the county.
  • York is looking at the introduction of charging for domestic garden waste collections, pushing up the cost of car parking across the city and reducing spending on highway maintenance.

UNISON says Jeremy Hunt must provide extra grant funding in the autumn statement to help weather the immediate challenges or local authorities and their communities will no longer be able to cope.

Work must also be done at pace to reform how councils are funded to tackle the huge reduction in central government resources since 2010, urges the union.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Communities rely on their local authorities for all manner of essential services, such as waste collection, social care, road repairs and parks and other open spaces.

“But councils are on their knees. Ministers seem to care very little about public services and local government has been hit hard over very many years.

“Essential services can’t run on thin air. Staff levels have 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. Not just for those on the brink, but to councils everywhere.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON sent a Freedom of Information request to all 371 local councils in England, Scotland and Wales for their 2024/25 funding shortfall figure. A total of 181 responded with the relevant data. For most of the remainder, the information was gathered from medium-term financial plans or papers from budget-setting meetings. Further details about the research can be found here with details of individual councils to be found here.
– *No data has been presented or found for Newham or Torbay councils.
– Funding figures are from the latest data available on 27 September 2023.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
– The top 20 funding gaps are as follows:

Council Region/nation Funding gap for 2024/25 in £
Birmingham City Council West Midlands 164,838,000
Thurrock Council Eastern 156,540,000
Hampshire County Council South East 82,000,000
Sheffield City Council Yorkshire & Humberside 72,700,000
Bradford City Council Yorkshire & Humberside 72,000,000
Liverpool City Council North West 67,038,000
Leeds City Council Yorkshire & Humberside 59,200,000
Nottingham City Council East Midlands 50,903,000
Shetland Islands Council Scotland 47,100,000
Kirklees Council Yorkshire & Humberside 47,000,000
Highland Council Scotland 46,688,000
Norfolk County Council Eastern 45,920,000
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council South West 44,400,000
Leicester City Council East Midlands 44,200,000
Somerset County Council South West 41,562,000
Warrington Borough Council North West 38,957,000
Medway Council South East 38,745,000
Glasgow City Council Scotland 37,700,000
Edinburgh City Council Scotland 37,600,000
Caerphilly Council Wales 37,414,000


Media contacts:

Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Councils face “dire” cash crisis totalling more than £3.5bn first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Councils face ‘dire’ cash crisis totalling more than £3.5bn

Local councils have a hole in their finances exceeding £3.5bn collectively for the coming financial year, making it extremely likely they will have to make huge cuts in essential services and jobs, says a report published today (Friday) by UNISON.

The figures, based on information gathered from local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, show the true scale of the dire state of local government funding, says the union.

Many authorities will be forced to consider selling land and buildings, as well as slash services for the vulnerable and vital community resources such as waste collection, libraries and leisure centres, UNISON warns.

The list is headed by Birmingham City Council, which is £164m short of its spending needs for next year, followed by Thurrock Council with a gap of £157m. Both councils have effectively declared themselves bankrupt in recent months after issuing section 114 notices.

Other authorities with severe cash shortfalls, according to UNISON’s research, are Hampshire County Council on £82m, Sheffield City Council which is short some £72.7m and Bradford City Council has £72m less than it needs.

The UNISON research Councils Under Pressure shows there are 114 councils (31%) that are at least £10m short of their planned spending requirements, while 15 (4%) are as much as £40m adrift.

The record combined shortfall totals almost £3.57bn across councils in the three nations for 2024/25. It means the local authorities will be forced to rely on virtually non-existent cash reserves. All are likely to have to make cuts to services and their workforces, says UNISON.

The situation is set to worsen too with the cumulative funding gap rising even further in 2025/26 to over £7bn, warns UNISON.

Regardless of their overall political control, the future is bleak for councils with increased energy costs, a decade and more of reduced government funding and inflation all worsening their financial position, the union adds.

The huge scale of the budget shortfall across local government means a growing number of councils are teetering on the brink, UNISON warns.

This precarious state of council budgets couldn’t come at a worse time with thousands of families ever more reliant on community services due to cost of living pressures, adds UNISON.

The shortfalls increase the risk that many authorities will consider raising their council tax as high as possible next time, says the union.

UNISON’s research is based on data relating to 369 (out of 371*) local councils across Britain. It found that the vast majority (86%) have a predicted budget gap, with just 52 (14%) saying they are on course to balance the books.

Most are responding to the crisis by cutting services and activities, including:

  • Hampshire is reviewing its school crossing patrols, putting up to 45 jobs at risk.
  • Woking has put 350 workers across the authority on notice of redundancy.
  • Kirklees has said it plans to axe 250 jobs between October and next March.
  • Kent is considering the closure of 37 children’s and youth centres across the county.
  • York is looking at the introduction of charging for domestic garden waste collections, pushing up the cost of car parking across the city and reducing spending on highway maintenance.

UNISON says Jeremy Hunt must provide extra grant funding in the autumn statement to help weather the immediate challenges or local authorities and their communities will no longer be able to cope.

Work must also be done at pace to reform how councils are funded to tackle the huge reduction in central government resources since 2010, urges the union.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Communities rely on their local authorities for all manner of essential services, such as waste collection, social care, road repairs and parks and other open spaces.

“But councils are on their knees. Ministers seem to care very little about public services and local government has been hit hard over very many years.

“Essential services can’t run on thin air. Staff levels have 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. Not just for those on the brink, but to councils everywhere.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON sent a Freedom of Information request to all 371 local councils in England, Scotland and Wales for their 2024/25 funding shortfall figure. A total of 181 responded with the relevant data. For most of the remainder, the information was gathered from medium-term financial plans or papers from budget-setting meetings. Further details about the research can be found here with details of individual councils to be found here.
– *No data has been presented or found for Newham or Torbay councils.
– Funding figures are from the latest data available on 27 September 2023.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
– The top 20 funding gaps are as follows:

Council Region/nation Funding gap for 2024/25 in £
Birmingham City Council West Midlands 164,838,000
Thurrock Council Eastern 156,540,000
Hampshire County Council South East 82,000,000
Sheffield City Council Yorkshire & Humberside 72,700,000
Bradford City Council Yorkshire & Humberside 72,000,000
Liverpool City Council North West 67,038,000
Leeds City Council Yorkshire & Humberside 59,200,000
Nottingham City Council East Midlands 50,903,000
Shetland Islands Council Scotland 47,100,000
Kirklees Council Yorkshire & Humberside 47,000,000
Highland Council Scotland 46,688,000
Norfolk County Council Eastern 45,920,000
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council South West 44,400,000
Leicester City Council East Midlands 44,200,000
Somerset County Council South West 41,562,000
Warrington Borough Council North West 38,957,000
Medway Council South East 38,745,000
Glasgow City Council Scotland 37,700,000
Edinburgh City Council Scotland 37,600,000
Caerphilly Council Wales 37,414,000


Media contacts:

Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Councils face ‘dire’ cash crisis totalling more than £3.5bn first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: How much trouble is your local council in?

At every stage of our lives, we depend on services close to our homes in our local communities. Most of these services are delivered by councils and the council staff who dedicate their work to supporting others. 

Yet they’re finding their work is being undermined as budgets are slashed to the bone – and after 13 years of cuts, there’s not much left.

A staggering funding chasm of £3.5 billion by the financial year 2024/25 looms over our councils. The impact is not abstract, it has real consequences for people.

In the aftermath of Birmingham, Thurrock and Woking Councils’ bankruptcies, countless other councils will dominate headlines as the financial struggle becomes more acute.

This week, UNISON is launching new data on the exact funding gap that your council is facing. It’s bleak reading, but there is action that you can take to help your community.

First, we’re asking you to take a look here and see the difficulty facing your local council, and second, we’re asking you to contact your MP, MSP or Senned Member to ask them to support our calls for increased central government funding for local councils.

Your council needs you to stand up for the services we all rely on. When we stand together, we can make real change happen.

By us all reaching out to our local members of parliament, we make our demands impossible to ignore – only emergency funding now will save our services.

The article Blog: How much trouble is your local council in? first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: How much trouble is your local council in?

At every stage of our lives, we depend on services close to our homes in our local communities. Most of these services are delivered by councils and the council staff who dedicate their work to supporting others. 

Yet they’re finding their work is being undermined as budgets are slashed to the bone – and after 13 years of cuts, there’s not much left.

A staggering funding chasm of £3.5 billion by the financial year 2024/25 looms over our councils. The impact is not abstract, it has real consequences for people.

In the aftermath of Birmingham, Thurrock and Woking Councils’ bankruptcies, countless other councils will dominate headlines as the financial struggle becomes more acute.

This week, UNISON is launching new data on the exact funding gap that your council is facing. It’s bleak reading, but there is action that you can take to help your community.

First, we’re asking you to take a look here and see the difficulty facing your local council, and second, we’re asking you to contact your MP, MSP or Senned Member to ask them to support our calls for increased central government funding for local councils.

Your council needs you to stand up for the services we all rely on. When we stand together, we can make real change happen.

By us all reaching out to our local members of parliament, we make our demands impossible to ignore – only emergency funding now will save our services.

The article Blog: How much trouble is your local council in? first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: How much trouble is your local council in?

At every stage of our lives, we depend on services close to our homes in our local communities. Most of these services are delivered by councils and the council staff who dedicate their work to supporting others. 

Yet they’re finding their work is being undermined as budgets are slashed to the bone – and after 13 years of cuts, there’s not much left.

A staggering funding chasm of £3.5 billion by the financial year 2024/25 looms over our councils. The impact is not abstract, it has real consequences for people.

In the aftermath of Birmingham, Thurrock and Woking Councils’ bankruptcies, countless other councils will dominate headlines as the financial struggle becomes more acute.

This week, UNISON is launching new data on the exact funding gap that your council is facing. It’s bleak reading, but there is action that you can take to help your community.

First, we’re asking you to take a look here and see the difficulty facing your local council, and second, we’re asking you to contact your MP, MSP or Senned Member to ask them to support our calls for increased central government funding for local councils.

Your council needs you to stand up for the services we all rely on. When we stand together, we can make real change happen.

By us all reaching out to our local members of parliament, we make our demands impossible to ignore – only emergency funding now will save our services.

The article Blog: How much trouble is your local council in? first appeared on the UNISON National site.