Cashless Councils - What Happens When the Money Runs Out?
Why is Birmingham City Council struggling to make ends meet - and could over other local authorities be at risk?
Beyond just emptying our bins, local councils provide a huge range of services: they are responsible for roads, leisure centres, libraries, social care and so much more. So it is serious when they run out of cash and have to trigger a Section 114 notice, which means they no longer have the income to pay their expenditure. And over the past five years it鈥檚 happened in recent years in Northamptonshire, Croydon, Woking 鈥� and now in Birmingham, the biggest local authority in the country. But what happens next? In this episode of our 5 Questions On podcast, the 麻豆社's Michael Daventry asks local government expert Professor Tony Travers what has been going wrong in Birmingham, whether people in the city will notice anything different 鈥� and if other local authorities are at risk. (Image: Getty Images)
