Join us on Friday 22 February from 12-2pm to discuss the double whammy of budget cuts and increased costs on councils - and how to find strategies for survival
In December 2012, staring at his authority's "Jaws of Doom", the leader of Birmingham city council Sir Albert Bore, declared the "end of local government as we know it".
With budget pressures rising steeply and grant reductions crashing, Bore's pessimism appears well-founded, as Birmingham sees its grant cut by £332m over the next four years, a period in which costs are expected to rise by £273m.
The gloom is widespread. Councils in England face spending reductions of up to 8.8% from April, with an average cut of 1.7%.More than one in 10 councils are 'not well placed' to stay within budget in 2012/13 and a third of unitaries and county councils could be at medium-term risk of being unable to balance their budgets, according to the Audit Commission, while the National Audit Office report in January on councils' financial sustainability is, if anything, even more concerned.
The NAO says the situation needs close monitoring from central government - and cannot hide its surprise and alarm at how little the Department of Communities and Local Government, nor the Treasury, seem to know about what cuts are being made and how this will affect councils' longterm sustainability, according to contributing editor to the Public Leaders Network, David Walker.
This is where the mettle and capacity of chief financial officers are going to be tested. "Can they simultaneously keep the ship afloat, sustain the confidence of the councillors who have to stand up in public and defend cuts and/or tax rises and be prepared to snitch to auditors or the NAO if they see things going awry?" asks Walker.
As a dozen or more councils teeter on the brink of financial crisis, this is a huge task for local CFOs - and their bosses. Our live discussion on Friday 22 February from 12-2pm will discuss how to keep local authorities afloat.
We want to know:
• Is this a time to build up reserves, against the next gust of icy wind, or to use reserves to maintain services?
• Which councils are proving most resilient in the face of cuts? What fiscal strategies are they deploying? Will we see larger, more financially resilient bodies emerge from the crisis? Will community budgets and city deals contribute to the type of transformation needed?
• How can councils manage demand for services, building capability and resilience in individuals and communities so that they draw less on services?
• How can CFOs themselves make the books balance and sustain the confidence of elected members - while retaining their statutory oversight function?
Expert panel
Michael Coughlin is executive director of the Local Government Association @M__Coughlin
Alison Scott is assistant director of policy and technical at CIPFA @alisonCIPFA
Richard Greening is executive member for finance & performance at Islington council @greeningrichard
Richard Vize is a regular contributor to the Guardian local government and healthcare networks. Previously he was editor of the weekly magazine Health Service Journal and he also spent seven years editing Local Government Chronicle @RichardVize
Neil McInroy is chief cxecutive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) @NMcinroy
Craig Griffin is the founder of Fresh Voice, a digital design company that helps social care and health to work together @freshvoice
Please email kathryn.dobinson@guardian.co.uk if you would like to be considered for the expert panel.
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