Metro Mayors urge government to save Local Authorities on brink of financial ruin

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has led an intervention, backed by the mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, North of Tyne and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, by writing to Local Government Secretary Michael Gove calling for more resources for struggling councils.

It comes as the government prepares to publish next year’s Local Government Finance Settlement, which could plunge the future of local public services further into doubt.

The letter, which is signed by six metro mayors representing communities right across the breadth of the country, calls for extra finance alongside a package of reforms to make local government funding fairer and more sustainable.

The Mayors argue that the government must take into account rising costs and increased demand, as well as the higher costs of providing for areas of higher deprivation.