The 2022 edition of CIPFA’s Resilience Index reveals that councils’ reserves have grown to £31bn, up from £29bn in 2020/21.
Of the £31bn of reserves, £27bn has already been earmarked for future use, leaving only £4bn unallocated.
Writing exclusively for The MJ, acting head of policy at CIPFA Joanne Pitt said councils are increasingly using their reserves to protect against further uncertainty.
She added: ‘It is worth noting that in the 2021/22 financial year, central government made grants to councils to be used over more than one year, which will also partly account for the increase in earmarked reserves for 2022/23.’
Ms Pitt said that looking at past data, the last time reserves reduced ‘was when there was a longer financial settlement for local authorities’.
‘So for reserves to start to decrease again, we need more long-term funding settlements, so authorities have the security and stability they so badly need.’
The 2022 edition of Resilience Index is now on CIPFA’s website.
This article was originally published by The MJ (£).
