Birmingham bankrupt

[BrianW]

Just out of interest, how do they decide how much to give each council from central government? Surely it's not possible for them to decide based on who makes up the council? Or do they simply cut them all, and make councils raise their own money meaning that poorer areas will naturally have less money?

The simple answer is there is an incredibly complex formula that no one - and I mean no one - really understands. The consequence is that two local authorities of the same size can get completely different levels of government support. Joe Soap in the street, understandably, cannot comprehend this.

Of course, all authorities have had their funding cut, but some by far more than others. Ironically among the worst hit are those like Bury, where I live, which have a long tradition (going back many decades) of being parsimonious. This is because, way back, there was a base level of spending on which all this BS was based.

I would never rule out the possibility of some mismanagement and some waste. Show me an organisation of any complexity that can confidently assert it has neither. But in the scheme of things, we are talking petty cash. Just one issue is the vast amount of money that now needs to be spent on social care, due to an ageing population. There is no way around this unless we are going to start giving people 'the needle'.

 

[bluethrunthru]

The simple answer is there is an incredibly complex formula that no one - and I mean no one - really understands. The consequence is that two local authorities of the same size can get completely different levels of government support. Joe Soap in the street, understandably, cannot comprehend this.

Of course, all authorities have had their funding cut, but some by far more than others. Ironically among the worst hit are those like Bury, where I live, which have a long tradition (going back many decades) of being parsimonious. This is because, way back, there was a base level of spending on which all this BS was based.

I would never rule out the possibility of some mismanagement and some waste. Show me an organisation of any complexity that can confidently assert it has neither. But in the scheme of things, we are talking petty cash. Just one issue is the vast amount of money that now needs to be spent on social care, due to an ageing population. There is no way around this unless we are going to start giving people 'the needle'.

And of course in many cases we have learned that over the last 13 years of austerity the maintaining or increasing of funding depended on people electing a council or metro mayor of the "correct" political persuasion

 

[Vic]

Depends which Council you are on about. £18m isn't that bad for a medium sized MBC, or fairly typical. All have lost 50% of funding or so since 2010, so more like hundreds of millions.

Birmingham was about £30m PA short in its Medium Term Financial Strategy, which was nothing compared to its budget as the biggest Council, just the job evaluation case went badly. Every Council did their own job evaluation, and it seemed made up as it went along. However if you have 100s doing certain jobs rather than one person, the prospect of a challenge is far greater, so Birmingham's size helped lead to its downfall.

Some Councils have used the General Power of Competence (from the Localism Act 2011) to earn extra money and mitigate the cuts, but then you see a few bad examples like Thurrock which were ridiculous in the extreme. There are massive skills shortages now in technical areas.

The more or less final cuts were known since 2016 in the main with the shift away from the Revenue Support Grant to Business Rates retention, the real problem is demand increasing due to the ageing population, and that will go on for generations.

Our council is a third short of personnel in its internal audit section (plus shortage in finance generally).

Do we want to stop fraud (unlikely anyway), or recruit more planners to clear the backlog to meet government targets for dealing with applications, or more social workers to stop children being harmed, or fix potholes....

 

[Vic]

And of course in many cases we have learned that over the last 13 years of austerity the maintaining or increasing of funding depended on people electing a council or metro mayor of the "correct" political persuasion

And ministers "signing off" on "competitive" bids for money to each other's constituency.

(And the affluent boroughs can afford the officers' time to make better bids...)

 

[bluethrunthru]

And ministers "signing off" on "competitive" bids for money to each other's constituency.

(And the affluent boroughs can afford the officers' time to make better bids...)

Plus then the Chancellor now PM boasting to some members that he took funding away from troubled inner city areas - like Brum - and reallocated it to places like leafy Kent

 

[Scottyboi]

My council saying they might go under now due to HS2 cancellation, laughable.

Cheshire East council says it faces bankruptcy due to HS2 link cancellation | Cheshire | The Guardian

Local authority covering some of richest areas in England says it spent £11m preparing for rail line

amp.theguardian.com

https://moderngov.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ecminutes/documents/s112543/HS2%20Cancellation%20and%20Network%20North%20Implications%20for%20Cheshire%20East_.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1bUiGMCw84F9j3nSKr4HQA6Fpep7iWnr4ntY2XXapgywx6sJeoKaYAnu0

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

My council saying they might go under now due to HS2 cancellation, laughable.

Cheshire East council says it faces bankruptcy due to HS2 link cancellation | Cheshire | The Guardian

Local authority covering some of richest areas in England says it spent £11m preparing for rail line

amp.theguardian.com

https://moderngov.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ecminutes/documents/s112543/HS2%20Cancellation%20and%20Network%20North%20Implications%20for%20Cheshire%20East_.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1bUiGMCw84F9j3nSKr4HQA6Fpep7iWnr4ntY2XXapgywx6sJeoKaYAnu0

Speaking from fairly considerable experience, Cheshire East is one of the most inept local authorities in England, and certainly far more inept than Birmingham or Nottingham.

Fucking small time council.

 

[Scottyboi]

Speaking from fairly considerable experience, Cheshire East is one of the most inept local authorities in England, and certainly far more inept than Birmingham or Nottingham.

Fucking small time council.

Don't get me started, the fuckers for the second year in a row have decided not to grit a main road from Middlewich to Crewe, had over 7 cars including a coppers in a ditch so far this Autumn. Instead they hired big electronic signs telling you it wasn't gritted haha.

What actually happens if they go bankrupt?

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Don't get me started, the fuckers for the second year in a row have decided not to grit a main road from Middlewich to Crewe, had over 7 cars including a coppers in a ditch so far this Autumn. Instead they hired big electronic signs telling you it wasn't gritted haha.

What actually happens if they go bankrupt?

In reality, not a great deal, which is quite right. They’ve still got to serve the people of the Borough. Even the likes of you! :-)

Without that, society on a local level ceases to function.

The fundamental issue is a chronic lack of funding. Local government, in many ways, is far more relevant to most people’s lives than the machinations of Westminster.

 

[bluethrunthru]

Don't get me started, the fuckers for the second year in a row have decided not to grit a main road from Middlewich to Crewe, had over 7 cars including a coppers in a ditch so far this Autumn. Instead they hired big electronic signs telling you it wasn't gritted haha.

What actually happens if they go bankrupt?

Those useless signs get switched off lol