Seven local authority leaders in the West Midlands have written to the Government warning there is a risk the region will have to declare itself as ‘financially unsustainable.’
In total, Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton councils face a funding gap of ‘well over’ £200m for 2025/26, they said.
Writing to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, the council leaders said they face the same pressures: the rising cost and demand in adult social care, children’s services, homelessness/temporary accommodation, and an increase in the demand for SEND services, such as home-to-school transport.
‘Local government needs more funding to stabilise the sector and protect the vital services our residents need and value, but also needs fundamental system changes to underpin a new relationship between central and local government,’ they said.
