The shortfall in Local Authority spending in Cambridgeshire County Council is well known. Our CEO does keep the staff informed at our regular monthly meetings. This along with the many money saving initiatives that are constantly being implemented across Teams, has indeed kept the importance of the public purse, and how little there is in it, at the forefront of our minds.
Unison asked in August what the chances are of CCC issuing a section 155 notice, the short response might be more worrying than the question, as 'not at this time' seemed to indicate that we are closer than many of us believe or dare to think.
What may not be so well known is the state of other Local Authorities. That is now public with some research that Unison has recently completed, and published in September 2024. The report: Councils on the Brink: The Local Government Funding Gap 2025/26 Is difficult reading for public sector workers, as the extent to under funding is revealed. The predicted funding gap for 2025/26 is £3.4bn, which will have risen to £6.9bn by 2026/27. These figures far outstrip the estimate made by the Local Government Association (LGA) in June. This suggested councils in England face a funding gap of £2.3bn in 2025/26, rising to £6.2bn by 2026/27. The LGA’s figures were compiled using modelling assumptions rather than extracting each council’s predicted funding gap.
To find out how bad funding is in your area, and to what extend the cuts in savings will affect you, click the new Unison interactive map for funding shortfalls across England, Scotland and wales.
After the Local Government Service Group Executive chairs LGSGE, met with MP's on the Tuesday 10 September launch event. Unison are asking all its members to write to their MP's about the consequences of the funding crisis. The October budget, will only support our cause, if we raise the issues as individuals and as a collective. We must keep up the pressure, if we are to achieve a positive outcome for our clients and for ourselves.
If you would like to support Unison's campaign for better funding for Council's, write to your MP at this link now.
Unison's Local Government Pod casts may well provide an interesting listen; Episode 17: Could your council go bankrupt? With Alan Waters and Laura Webster.
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