Council leaders are pleading with the chancellor for a bailout of more than £1 billion to avert bankruptcies.
Dozens of councils are warning that they are on the edge of financial ruin that would force them to raise council tax and slash services as they cope with a surge in demand for social care and children’s services.
Middle-class parents are blamed by some for driving a surge in special needs plans, which have strained council budgets after a change in rules, since which their number has doubled.
A fifth of councils fear they may have to declare bankruptcy this year or next, while seven in ten say they are struggling to balance the books, according to surveys that highlight the precarious state of local authority
