Every day, a new story emerges about the spiralling financial crisis in local government. If it isn’t a new council announcing mammoth cuts to simply stay afloat, it’s new data revealing how a vital local service is facing meltdown. The government, however, seems uninterested. Extra funding is going in only one direction – towards the NHS in the form of the £20.5bn “birthday present” announced by the Prime Minister in June.
One day, students of public finance will study this as an example of policy-making at its most irrational. The £20.5bn was announced as a response to the rapidly rising demand, which is stretching NHS services to snapping point. But if councils are left to fall apart that demand will only rise further and faster.
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