Title

FINANCE

Brighton's finances in 'perilous position'

Brighton & Hove City Council’s finances are in an ‘extremely perilous position’, the local authority’s leader has warned.

Brighton & Hove City Council's finances are in an ‘extremely perilous position', the local authority's leader has warned.

Cllr Bella Sankey said the council was facing a budget gap of £31m next year and would have to find millions in savings.

She added that while many councils have been forced to issue section 114 notices – effectively declaring bankruptcy – Brighton & Hove CC were not in that position yet.

Cllr Sankey said: ‘The council's finances are in an extremely perilous position.

‘There was absolutely nothing in the Autumn Statement to provide relief for this council or local authorities who have faced a decade of heartless central government austerity or any real-world financial help for struggling families.'

‘While we await the final detail on the local government settlement, we will almost certainly have to find millions more savings next year than planned because the government has chosen to ignore the crisis in local government funding,' she added.

FINANCE

'A denial of democracy'

By Heather Jameson | 08 October 2026

Commissioner-led intervention is ‘problematic’ and a ‘denial of local democracy’, the chief executive of Liverpool City Council has claimed.

FINANCE

Liverpool's recovery: how a council moved beyond intervention

By Heather Jameson | 08 October 2026

Liverpool City Council has shed its final improvement notice and emerged from intervention five years after government commissioners were brought in. Chief e...

FINANCE

Windsor and Maidenhead Council: Back from the brink

By Stephen Evans | 08 October 2026

Windsor and Maidenhead Council has changed from a council on the edge to one that is balancing budgets in-year, and delivering real change – while using exce...

FINANCE

LGR pause could leave local authority staff in a state of flux

By Matthew Gregson | 06 October 2026

Matthew Gregson says that amid the uncertainty around reorganisation, council leadership needs to be receptive to the needs of their employees while showing ...

Popular articles by William Eichler

-->