'Ignore' Whitehall calls to raid reserves, says CIPFA

摘要

Councils have been urged to stand up to the communities secretary over their use of reserves and 'ignore the inaccurate messages' from his department. Latest government statistics showed that councils reduced total reserves for the second year running, dropping by £1.5bn (6.2%) in the past year as half of all councils made use of them. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has continued to encourage councils to spend their reserves to plug funding gaps.