Coventry is at risk of having to issue a section 114 notice, the city council has warned Michael Gove.

‘Urgent action’ is needed to help Coventry cope with costs, the local authority said in a letter to the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities.

Coventry’s cabinet member for finances, Cllr Richard Brown, said he was writing to Mr Gove ‘as local government stands on the precipice of financial disaster’.

Cllr Brown told the communities secretary: ‘I am sure you are fully briefed on the dire financial situation facing local authorities across England – but I would like to draw your attention to the devastating impact this will have on a well-run authority like Coventry City Council.

‘We have always responded with prudent investments, robust management, innovation in service delivery – maintaining a balanced position in recent years.

‘However, like others in the sector, we are now facing the prospect of having to issue a Section 114 because shortages in government funding mean we can no longer keep pace with demand.’

The council said it was facing a multi-million pound deficit, mainly caused by increased demand for adult and children’s social care, demand for housing, and wider inflationary pressures.

Cllr Brown said Coventry urgently needed government action to manage the costs of social care, or it would be forced to make cuts in other areas and be left unable to deliver services that residents needed.

The letter to the Government was sent after the council’s warning earlier this week that service costs were becoming ‘unmanageable’.