Ernest Hemingway famously described the process of going bankrupt as something that happens “gradually, then suddenly”, a phrase more pithily misremembered as “slowly, then all at once”. When it comes to the public sector, this second version really seems to be the case.
Before 2018, no UK council had issued a section 114 notice – the local government version of bankruptcy – for more than 16 years. Since then, 13 such notices have been issued, with many more councils reportedly on the brink after years of cuts. One of those to fall was Birmingham, by far the largest council in the country, affecting the service of millions of Brits.
When the dominoes started to fall in local government, it surprised absolutely no-one…