Local government finances are sustainable and the collapse of another authority is not expected, the ministry’s top civil servant has insisted.
Melanie Dawes, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), told the Public Accounts Committee today the extra money pledged for the sector in the Budget had secured its future – for the remainder of the spending period.
She said: ‘Having put extra money in during the Budget, we have stabilised the risks for 2019/20 very significantly. There’s not a council close to the edge in that time period and certainly not one approaching the Northamptonshire situation. There are some councils particularly concerned about what happens after that.’
She added that she was ‘not expecting’ another section 114 notice, as issued by Northamptonshire CC.
