Hampshire and Kent CC leaders have said they will be forced to issue Section 114 notices within two years without immediate financial assistance from the Government.

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Hampshire’s Rob Humby and Roger Gough of Kent laid out the challenges facing upper tier authorities.

With no fair funding review or two-year settlement, council tax and business rates are insufficient to keep pace with growing demand in adult’s and children’s social care, it warns.

Despite being ‘well run’ authorities, the letter states they are both ‘likely to be considering Section 114 notices within the next year or so’ unless this changes.

Cllr Gough said: ‘Without a major change either in the way these two services are funded, or in our legal obligations, I suspect that large parts of upper tier local government will face collapse.’

‘This is not a medium-term problem that can be fixed with more one-off handouts to keep the sector limping along, it needs fundamental changes to the whole system of local government funding.’

The leaders have asked for ‘meaningful dialogue’ with ministers, MPs and Government officials before the end of the year.

Cllr Humby added: ‘We have gone as far as we can to close the budget gaps we have faced to date, and there is nowhere left to go in future without severely impacting some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

‘We cannot sit by and let two great counties sleepwalk into a financial disaster. Even with drastic cuts to services, we won’t be able to close our future budget gaps and based on current forecasts, our authorities would have no option but to consider formal talks with our auditors, DLUHC and Treasury over the coming months.’