Give councils power to raise taxes to sort out fiscal woes

摘要

Ever since 2010, local government has feared the worst - financial Armageddon. Between graphs of doom and service cuts, the future for council coffers has not been rosy. But somehow the sector has managed to trundle on. What has been remarkable thus far has been the resilience. In quiet corners, unofficially, most of those in local government may admit there was a fair amount of fat to cut. The fat is no more. Financial failure in local government is a moot point - councils cannot go bust and they must, by law, balance the books. That doesn't mean they are not falling apart. Now two big councils have warned that they are in danger of not being able to provide statutory services - the local government equivalent of fiscal collapse. Adult care bosses have warned there will be deaths if cuts go ahead - but more pressure on expensive NHS services is likely to be a more common fallout.