A third of councils will run out of funding to provide their statutory duties by the end of this Parliament, the Local Government Association today warns.

As town hall leaders gather in Bournemouth for the Association’s annual conference, Smith Square officials released possibly their bleakest assessment of local government finances since the start of the current ten-year austerity period – and urged ministers to stump-up cash urgently.

Lord Porter, outgoing chair of the LGA, warned: ‘If the government fails to adequately fund local government there is a real risk to the future financial viability of some services and councils.’