When Local Councils Face Bankruptcy … and It’s All Blame on Homelessness Costs
Stephen Holt – the Liberal Democrat boss of Eastbourne Borough Council – dropped into Westminster with 50 other council chiefs, sounding the alarm that the government needs to step in fast, lest we hit a national “cliff‑hanger” with emergency budgets and those dreaded Section 114 notices everyone loves a good thriller about.
Holt warned, “Without a government bailout to cover the sky‑high costs of temporary accommodation and the morality of throwing people onto the streets, we’re going to see a lot of councils rushing to push over the budget line and knocking the emergency notice door open.”
Across the table, Michael Jones, the Labour Leader of Crawley Borough Council, wasn’t any kinder. He slammed the brief “rising costs” as “accelerating” and described Crawley as a new “asylum‑dispersal city” that’s stirring up fresh demands on them. “We’re stuck in a frozen funding regime that’s just unfair,” he said, “and it has to be fixed today.”
Jones added a touch of drama, saying that the crisis is “challenging even for the wealthiest councils” and that if we don’t act, we’ll only be telling Parliament that local government’s out of its depth.
Key Takeaways in a Nutshell
- Rising temp accommodation costs are draining council budgets.
- Emergency budgets and Section 114 notices are looming.
- Both the Liberal Democrat and Labour councils want the government to intervene.
- They call for immediate fixes – as if the next day could be doomsday.
So, dear policymakers: If we’re going to keep the cityscape from turning into a financial landfill, a quick boost from the top is crucial. In the meantime, let’s hope the councils can find a better way to manage the crisis – perhaps a “creative budget” that doesn’t involve, you know, a new homeless shelter or sending everyone to a forgotten back‑door asylum.
