Report highlights impact of COVID-19 on council finances

A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that COVID-19 has seriously affected the finances of English councils.

The IFS say councils forecast spending pressures of £4.4 billion and non-tax income pressures of £2.8 billion in 2020-21. Taken together, this equates to a financial hit equal to 13.0% of pre-crisis expenditure. Adult social care accounts for £1.8 billion of the spending pressures.

The research found there is significant variation in forecast pressures across councils, especially for non-tax income.

COVID-19 and English council funding: how are budgets being hit in 2020-21?