Broke and Broken: The Crises Facing Local Government in England

Abstract

English local government faces a perilous position owing to insufficient funding, structural issues and capacity challenges. Fourteen years of austerity have significantly reduced council budgets, while increased demand for services—particularly adult social care—has strained resources. The current funding system is regressive and fails to incentivise economic growth, and the structure of local government is not fit for purpose due to a focus on unitary authorities, which are sub-optimal for service delivery. To address these issues, this article proposes a four-tier system of local government, a more robust funding mechanism and electoral reforms to ensure effective governance and representation.

Dr David Jeffery

Lecturer in Politics

My research interests include British politics (widely defined), Liverpool’s political history, Scouse identity, and quantitative methodologies.