Since 2018, eight English local authorities have issued Section 114 notices which indicate that the council’s forecast income is insufficient to meet its forecast expenditure for the next year, as the sector’s coffers reach breaking point.

More worrying, but not surprising, is that almost one in five council leaders and chief executives in England surveyed by the Local Government Association (LGA) last year think it is very or fairly likely that their chief finance officer will need to issue such a notice this year or next due to a lack of funding to keep key services running.