Blog

The entire nation seemed mightily shocked when Birmingham City Council issued a section 114 Notice (effectively a declaration of bankruptcy) on 5th September. But for those of us who move in local government circles, it was hardly any great surprise. Birmingham City Council - as the biggest local authority in Europe - is merely the most visible manifestation of a deep-seated malaise in local government financing generally. The canary in the coal mine, if you like. The headline in the Municipal Journal said, bluntly, “local government finance is broken”. And who can argue with that?