Councils risk being swamped by people struggling to cope with the recession, according to the dire warnings in two new reports. Findings published on Wednesday by Oxford Economics show more than a million more workers will lose their jobs over the next two years. This follows a report by the Local Government Association which confirms most councils across England and Wales are already seeing a sharp rise in the demand for welfare advice, services for unemployed people, council housing, free school meals, incidents of crime and disorder and benefits applications. But chairman of the LGA, Cllr Margaret Eaton, is confident councils can cope. She said: ‘Town halls are taking decisive action to protect local people and businesses from the worst effects of the recession.' But she added the Government should relinquish more power to councils during the downturn. ‘Town halls need to be freed up to provide even more local help,' she warned. Amelia Cookson, leader of the Centre for Service Transformation at the Local Government Information Unit, said: ‘Councils can cope with what is to come, if they will has yet to be seen. Any council which is moving quickly will do fine. It is those which are sitting back which will struggle.'