Hampshire CC warned it faces ‘financial meltdown’ and central Government’s funding system needs to be fixed to avoid further section 114s being issued.

County councils and unitary authorities are facing tough challenges as they grapple with increasing need for their services. District councils also face this same trajectory, albeit at a slower pace, because the demands are not as acute. Action across all levels of local government is needed, not on a local case-by-case basis, and not every time a new section 114 is issued.