Council chiefs have claimed the sector's financial reserves totalling £21.4bn are all that stands between the sector and financial collapse, after ministers urged them to dip into their cash reserves to protect services and peg council tax levels.

The response comes in reaction to a ministerial announcement today indicating more than 100 councils have signed up to accept Government cash to freeze council tax this year.

New figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government today, ahead of a vote by MPs on the local government finance settlement, show some 114 councils and police authorities have signed up to take the freeze grant.