Financial pressures are taking a toll on council staff
New polling reveals poor training, accountability and overwork in local authorities.
ByLocal government
Local government in the United Kingdom manages services for people and businesses in local areas. Some of these services are schools, housing, social care, business support and registrar services. Local councils are a common type of local authority. Local public elected councillors sit on these councils and are responsible for working with local people and businesses to provide these services. Find all our latest news, comment and analysis on local government here.
Council bankruptcy tracker: authorities under increasing financial strain
Six local authorities have declared bankruptcy since 2021. Spotlight looks at the financial situation at English councils.
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How the local government finance settlement would leave poorer authorities worse off
Conservative MPs are demanding emergency funding in response to devolved finance proposals that penalise poorer councils.
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Neoliberal growth or community wealth: which path will Labour choose?
How the tensions between different models of local development are resolved will define the UK’s economic future.
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What does it mean when a council declares bankruptcy?
Local governments across England are worried about their finances, and we should be too.
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Selling off assets won’t stop council bankruptcies
The government hopes someone else will deal with the problem of inadequate local authority funding.
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Exclusive: More than a third of councillors say recreational, leisure and cultural services have been cut since 2010
Amid bankruptcies and lack of funding, Spotlight polling reveals that libraries, leisure centres and parks are all being sidelined.
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“Red Wall” areas are at the epicentre of “broken Britain”
Research reveals that the constituencies which helped the Tories win their landslide victory are suffering the most.
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Councils are on the brink – but there’s no mea culpa from Michael Gove
With one in five local authorities saying they are likely to go bankrupt, the Levelling Up Secretary is shifting the…
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A bluffer’s guide to rural politics
Initially a reluctant candidate for a Herefordshire Council seat, I discovered the camaraderie, conflict and thrill of local elections.
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Where have all the rebel councils gone?
Nottingham is the latest authority to issue a bankruptcy notice, signalling a broad crisis for local government. Why aren't councils…
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Exclusive poll: Tory councillors deliver dire verdict on the Sunak government
Less than a third say Westminster policies have been good for their local areas, a New Statesman Spotlight survey finds.
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Councils are the victims not the cause of their poor finances
National government blames local mismanagement, but the problems in local authorities stem from years of underinvestment.
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What would a Labour government do about HS2 and levelling up?
As the party’s conference nears, the opposition will have to set out its plans to bring economic growth to all…
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In austerity Britain, councils have sold off billions in public assets
We are still paying the price for cuts to public services – we must boost power locally to redress this.
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The ghosts of austerity are returning to haunt Rishi Sunak
As the last of the Osbornites, the Prime Minister is more culpable than most as the country crumbles around him.
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How might Keir Starmer run the country? Look to Labour councils
Labour-led authorities have governed under austerity for more than a decade, with mixed success.
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Stop making local issues national
From Ulez to Andy Burnham, the whole country is viewed through the lens of Westminster and the general election.
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The town that was gambled away
Thurrock Council has been left effectively bankrupt after hundreds of millions of pounds were put into risky investments.
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Why skills training is vital to increasing growth
Reforming apprenticeships and working with local government are both part of the solution.