‘The community stuff that makes us feel good doesn’t happen anymore’: Can councils survive spending cuts?
Nottingham Castle was built nearly 1,000 years ago, designed as an impregnable Norman fort.
Today it is a tourist attraction – but just as inaccessible.
The castle, owned by the council, has been closed since November, when its trust went into liquidation.
It is a symbol of a city and of a council that has struggled financially in the two years since it lost £38m on a failed company – Robin Hood Energy.
But it tells a bigger tale, of a local government system which is creaking – stripped of cash by Westminster and shaped by incentives and pressures that can lead councils to financial disaster.
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Just down the road from Nottingham Castle is a centre called Base 51 that works with vulnerable young people.
Its funding from Nottingham City Council has been completely cut so it’s launched a crowdfunding campaign. But as things stand, it will have to vacate its premises in six months.
Three teenagers were there when Sky News visited.
“Before I started coming here I was going out and getting into trouble,” Deyarni Beedy-Lamonte said.
“But since I’ve started coming here I’ve been offered counselling. And obviously that’s helped get me onto a better path.”
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Local councils explained
Quinn Vahey says there’s little else on offer for teenagers in Nottingham. “If I weren’t here, I’d be getting in trouble every day basically. I’d probably get arrested by now.”
Nottingham City Council told Sky News: “Like all councils, the City Council has been receiving less and less in government grants over the past 13 years to pay for local services, which has forced us to cut services that we would prefer not to.”
Not all councils have launched an energy company, though, and seen it go quite spectacularly bust.
But the council is right about government funding – grants from central government have fallen nearly 90% since 2014.
During roughly the same period, councils have cut back on discretionary spending.
Take roads, for instance – fixing things like potholes. Around £1bn was spent across all councils in 2013.
Today, that’s fallen to £690m, even after adjusting for inflation. Or street lighting, which has lost £100m in funding.
One of the most famous councillors in the country (not a crowded field) is Jackie Weaver.
She went viral after a chaotic Zoom meeting of a parish council, in which she was told: “You have no authority here Jackie Weaver. No authority at all.”
But Weaver is chief officer at Cheshire Association of Local Councils and knows the subject inside out.
“As money has got tighter over, I would say, the last 10 years, probably, we’ve seen the district and county councils in Cheshire disappear, the county council disappeared altogether, contract so much that now they only perform their statutory functions,” she told Sky News.
“Now, that means all the kind of community stuff that is visible, that makes us feel good, doesn’t happen anymore. They don’t have any money to do it. They only focus on statutory obligations.”
Statutory obligations are services that councils are legally obliged to provide and the most important, and the most expensive, is social care.
Councils are spending an ever greater share of their budgets on social care, as the population ages and care demands become more complex.
Total council spending has gone from £26bn 10 years ago to £30bn today, again adjusted for inflation.
If you look at social care as a proportion of councils’ total spending, you can see just how much it’s eating up – from 57% in 2012 to 62% last year.
Three councils – Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Halton in Cheshire – spent more than three quarters of their total 2021/22 budgets on providing social care.
So: add a massive cut in central government funding to a huge increase in demand for services councils are legally obliged to provide and spending cuts in other areas seem inevitable.
This isn’t just a tale of austerity, though, but a deliberate redesign, dating back to changes to the system made back in 2010.
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Who pays the most council tax?
“Councils were told to be innovative, entrepreneurial – to act like any other company, and this involved investments, property, other sorts of investments, maybe outside their own local authority area,” Jonathan Werran, CEO of thinktank Localis, told Sky News.
“But the reason they were doing this was to earn revenue to fund the local public services upon which people depend and rely upon – trying to plug the gap.”
That “entrepreneurial” model may have suited some councils – but it has led others, like Nottingham, into choppy financial waters.
Nottingham issued a Section 114 notice – a formal declaration of financial problems – in 2021.
But it’s far from the only one.
Thurrock, Slough and Kent have all issued Section 114 notices within the last year.
Levelling Up: Areas with high levels of deprivation suffered the most from austerity
Woking, which has racked up £2bn in debt investing in property, has said it is in danger of doing the same.
“There’s definitely more and more councils that are in challenging financial positions – a number of councils over the last five years or so particularly have borrowed quite heavily to fund investment in property,” Tim Oliver, chairman of the County Councils Network, told Sky News.
The person who changed the system was Lord Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government in David Cameron’s coalition government, in 2010.
The idea behind the reforms was “essentially, to give [councils] more power and give them more say of how they spent things”, Lord Pickles told Sky News.
“And it’s called localism. And it really was designed to give power right down to the lowest level in local government.”
Sky News asked him about the councils that have issued Section 114 notices and whether it was a good idea to ask councils to be more entrepreneurial with public money.
“I want to say so, I think a lot of it boils down to a lack of due diligence,” he said.
“But the ones that we talk about, I think that there’s been a kind of a real problem when they’re sort of moved into this without properly thinking it through.”
Tom Cheshire speaks with teenagers in Nottingham
Every council Sky News spoke to said they need more money from central government.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told Sky News: “We are making an additional £5.1bn available for councils in England in the next financial year.
“We are also providing multi-year certainty to local government, outlining spending over the next two years to allow councils to plan ahead with confidence.”
Sky News understands that around £2bn of that new money is intended for social care.
Read more:
Why are councils spending less on potholes and bin collections?
See how much your council spends
But that represents just a 6.67% increase on the total amount spent by councils – at a time when inflation is significantly higher.
Councils will still struggle to afford social care, which means they will struggle to provide other services.
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And that may ultimately end up costing even more. Take Base 51 for example. As non-statutory spending, it can be cut.
But if those teenagers get into trouble and enter the social care or criminal justice system, that ends up costing more down the line.
“That’s the challenge we’re trying to work through now,” Mr Oliver told Sky News.
“You need to sort of double run it.
“So you need to have sufficient money to deliver the services to the people that are already in the system. But then equally you need to put funding and investment into prevention and early intervention.
“It is a false economy, not to invest in that early prevention. But that is the challenge around finding the funding to do both.”
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Labour demand council tax freeze
Local government can be an unglamorous subject but it has a huge impact on people’s lives: the fabric of our society is made up of many threads.
Many of them are small: street lights, bin collections, pot holes, community centres.
Some are huge, like social care.
And pick at those threads, year after year, and it adds up to the sense that the social fabric, the deal between citizens and state, is fraying.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
UK
UK weather: Dozens of flood alerts in place across England and Wales amid warning of heavy rainfall
Dozens of flood alerts have been issued across England and Wales amid a warning of heavy rainfall.
The Environment Agency has 35 flood alerts in place for rivers in England, while Natural Resources Wales has another 10 in force as of midday on Saturday. Alerts mean flooding is possible.
It comes as the Met Office has a yellow weather warning in place for rain in the East Midlands, North East England and Yorkshire and Humber on Saturday.
Up to 30mm could fall “fairly widely”, the agency predicted, with as much as 60mm possible over higher ground. A yellow warning for ice is also in place for large parts of northern England overnight into Sunday.
Check the weather forecast where you are
There is also a yellow warning for rain on Monday covering North West England, Hampshire, South West England and Wales.
Up to 40mm is likely to fall quite widely for Derbyshire, North West England, and Yorkshire and Humber, and there could be as much as 120mm in a few places over the Cumbrian fells, the Met Office said.
In South West England, there could be up to 50mm “across the higher parts of Exmoor, Dorset, the Mendips and Cotswolds”.
Also for Monday, there is a more serious amber warning for rain in South Wales all day, with 120mm possible in a few places.
Rain warnings are in place for Saturday and Monday (below). Pic: Met Office
Homes and businesses could be flooded, the agency said, and there may be travel disruption and difficult driving conditions.
England and Wales normally averages just over 100mm of rainfall for the entire month of November.
Jason Kelly, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “There is a clear signal for strong winds and periods of heavy rain, which could lead to surface water flooding and delays to road and rail travel.
“Rain will also push into North East England during Saturday, some of which could fall as snow over higher ground when the system meets colder air coming down from the north.
“Sunday will be drier and brighter, albeit colder, for many areas with blustery winds lingering near some North Sea coasts. Expect widespread frost overnight into Monday before the next weather system approaches.”
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Next week, the weather is expected to remain changeable, with occasional dry spells.
Homes across Scotland left without power
It comes after homes across Scotland were left without power following severe gales overnight.
The Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning for wind, covering Orkney, Shetland and western parts of the Highlands and Argyll and Bute, which expired at 11am on Friday.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said gusts reached 83mph on the Western Isles and 75mph on the Isle of Mull.
A spokesperson said around 1,000 homes on the Isle of Mull were without power by mid-morning on Friday, but most have since been restored.
UK
Software issue impacts thousands of Airbus planes – as UK passengers warned of potential disruption
Airline passengers have been warned of potential travel disruption after Airbus identified a “significant number” A320 planes impacted by a software issue.
In a statement, the plane maker said: “Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
“Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted.”
File pic: iStock
It is understood the incident that triggered an unexpected repair involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on 30 October, which suffered a sharp loss of altitude which injured several passengers.
An Airbus spokesperson told Sky News the necessary software change would affect up to 6,000 planes.
They added that for most of the affected aircraft, the required software update would take 2-3 hours. However, some aircrafts would need new hardware to be able to adopt the required software and that those aircraft would be affected for longer.
Travel expert, Simon Calder, said the situation was “very concerning” but that he had full faith in the safety procedures of Airbus and airlines. He went on to say that “aviation remains extraordinarily safe.”
However, he warned that customers may not be entitled to cash compensation if affected by delays, as the issue would be considered out of the control of airlines.
EasyJet, British Airways, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, American Airlines, Delta and Wizz Air are all affected by the issue.
Airbus told Sky News that it had proactively asked the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to issue an air worthiness directive for the affected aircraft.
The issue is affecting A319, A320 and the A321 models. The company said the issue is only affecting A320s that are in service, not aircraft that are due to be delivered.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said it is likely to mean some disruption and cancellation to flights.
Airbus requested that EASA issue an air worthiness directive. Pic: Reuters
Some airlines will be more affected than others, Colombian airline Avianca has announced that it will close ticket sales for 10 days due to the issue.
In a statement, easyJet said: “As we are expecting this to result in some disruption, we will inform customers directly about any changes to our flying programme tomorrow and will do all possible to minimise the impact.”
American Airlines said the Airbus software issue would impact 340 aircraft and it expects some operational delays due to a major software change requirement.
The airline added that it expects the vast majority of the updates to be completed by “today or tomorrow”, and that they are “intently focused” on limiting cancellations.
Wizz Air said some of its flights over the weekend may be affected, while Air India said the issue could lead to delays.
Indigo, an Indian airline which operates over 150 A320s, said it was proactively completing mandated updates on the affected aircraft.
British Airways told Sky News that only three of its aircraft where affected and that the required fixes will be carried out overnight and are not expected to disrupt its operations.
Aer Lingus is in a similar position, with a limited number of aircraft impacted. The Airline doesn’t expect there to be significant operational disruption, but is taking “immediate steps to complete the required software installations”.
In October, the Airbus A320 family broke a major milestone when it overtook Boeing’s 737 to become the most-delivered jetliner in history.
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Famous names affected by prostate cancer have spoken of their disappointment after mass screening for the illness was not recommended for use on the NHS.
The National Screening Committee (NSC), comprised of doctors and economists, told the government that screening is “likely to cause more harm than good”.
Its decision means the NHS is unlikely to offer mass screening for men over the age of 45.
Six-time Olympic gold-medallist Sir Chris Hoy, former Prime Minister David Cameron, Sir Stephen Fry, actor and author Tony Robinson and journalist Dermot Murnaghan, who have all been diagnosed with the disease, spoke out after today’s decision.
David Cameron, Dermot Murnaghan and Sir Chris Hoy were among those who spoke out. Pic: PA/Shutterstock/AP
In a draft recommendation, the committee said the reason it was “not recommending whole population screening using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test was that it was likely to cause more harm than good”.
Instead, it proposes a targeted screening programme every two years for men with specific genetic mutations, known as BRCA-1 and BRCA-2, between the ages of 45 and 61.
But Sir Chris, who confirmed last year that his prostate cancer diagnosis was terminal, with doctors giving him two to four years to live, criticised the move.
The former Team GB cyclist, who confirmed in February 2024 that he was undergoing treatment, said: “I am extremely disappointed and saddened by the recommendation announced by the National Screening Committee today to rule against national screening for men at high risk of prostate cancer.
“More than 12,000 men are dying of prostate cancer every year; it is now the UK’s most common cancer in men, with black men at double the risk, along with men with a family history, like myself.
“While introducing regular checks for men carrying the BRCA genes is a very small step forward, it is not enough. I know, first hand, that by sharing my story following my own diagnosis two years ago, many, many lives have been saved.
“Early screening and diagnosis saves lives. I am determined to continue to use my platform to raise awareness, encourage open discussion, raise vital funds for further research and support, and to campaign for change.”
Sir Chris Hoy. Picture: PA
His views were echoed by Lord Cameron, who this month announced he was treated for prostate cancer last year.
Lord Cameron said in a post on X: “I am disappointed by today’s recommendation on prostate cancer screening from the National Committee.
“Targeted screening is a natural first step – but the recommendation today is far too targeted, not including black men or men with a family history, both high-risk groups.
“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among British men. We are letting down too many men if we don’t push for a wider screening programme that includes all high-risk groups – and not just the men involved, but their families too, who risk losing a loved one unnecessarily. As I know all too well, prostate cancer can be symptomless early on.
“That’s why screening is so essential – catching the cancers early when they can be more effectively and successfully treated, like in my own case.”
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was treated for prostate cancer last year. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sir Tony, journalist Mr Murnaghan and retired footballer Les Ferdinand also voiced their disappointment after the decision.
Sir Tony, 79, who starred as Baldrick in Blackadder, said: “I’m bitterly disappointed. Getting an early diagnosis for prostate cancer could save your life, but we still have no screening programme for it in the UK.
“I was lucky I found my cancer early, but nearly 10,000 men a year are diagnosed too late for a cure, and that’s just not right.”
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Why prostate cancer screening not being expanded
Broadcaster Mr Murnaghan, 67, added: “With prostate cancer cases higher than they’ve ever been, and the disease dominating the national conversation, I really thought we were heading to an exciting moment here.
“I’m so disappointed that the committee has decided not to recommend screening – it felt about time progress was made for men.”
He added in a statement shared with Sky News: “An acceptable halfway house, would perhaps be to extend screening to black men – and those with a known history of cancer in their family. But clearly a full nationwide screening programme would be best.”
Sir Stephen, who is a Prostate Cancer Research ambassador who revealed in 2018 he had undergone surgery after being diagnosed with the disease, said: “I’m deeply disappointed by today’s news. Men in the UK deserve so much better. Prostate cancer remains the second biggest cancer killer of men in this country, with more than 12,000 dying every year.
“The only way we will make a dent in that appalling statistic is by catching prostate cancer early, before symptoms appear – and the best way to do that is through a screening programme. I hope the country sees sense.”
Retired footballer Les Ferdinand also voiced his concerns over the decision. Pic: Reuters
Mr Ferdinand, whose grandfather died from prostate cancer, added: “I’ve seen members of my family survive prostate cancer, because their cancer was found in time.
“Without a national screening programme, the responsibility to find prostate cancer early and in time for a cure rests entirely on men’s shoulders, and it shouldn’t be this way.
“Black men are at double the risk of prostate cancer and twice as likely to die, and something has to be done.”
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Prostate cancer decision ‘a massive mistake’
Colin McFarlane, an actor who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023, told Sky News presenter Jonathan Samuels the decision was a “massive mistake”.
“I’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but I’m not having any treatment. I have something called active surveillance, so every three months I have a PSA blood test, and then once a year I have an MRI,” he said.
McFarlane said black men over the age of 45 are at high risk, and “should be invited for screening”. He added: “I personally think men over 50 should be invited for screening, because they’re also at risk. I’m concerned now for all the black men out there who are high risk.”
NSC added it did not recommend extensive screening for black men due to a current lack of evidence and data.
The committee also does not recommend targeted screening for men with a family history of the disease, who are also at a higher risk of prostate cancer.
The National Screening Committee is comprised of doctors and economists. File pic: iStock
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would consider the findings ahead of March’s final decision, adding that he wanted to see earlier diagnosis and quicker treatment, but that needed to be balanced against “the harms that wider screening could cause to men”.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, a former national cancer director and chairman of the NSC, told a briefing that modelling on PSA shows “whole population screening may lead to a small reduction in prostate cancer deaths, but the very high levels of overdiagnoses” means the harms outweigh the benefits.
Experts are also waiting to see data from a large trial launched by Prostate Cancer UK last week into whether combining PSA with other tests, such as rapid MRI scans, may lead to recommending population-wide screening.
Read more from Sky News:
Why prostate cancer is expected to be left without national screening
Scotland to roll out ‘simple’ genetic test
The trial is looking at the most promising screening techniques available, including PSA blood tests, genetic tests and 10-minute MRI scans, and whether they can be combined for a national screening programme.
The results will be ready within two years, it is hoped.
Mr Streeting added: “In the meantime, we will keep making progress on cutting cancer waiting times and investing in research into prostate cancer detection – in the last 12 months, 193,000 more patients received a diagnosis for suspected cancer on time.
“We are also providing funding to the £42m TRANSFORM trial, which has the potential to revolutionise prostate cancer screening, cutting out harmful side effects and making screening far more accurate.”
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