Council finances may have teetered on the edge of sustainability for many years, but the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's (CIPFA) latest resilience index shows just where local authorities were before the country was plunged into its first lockdown.

The CIPFA figures, which were released last month, cover the financial year 2019-2020 – finishing just days into the March lockdown. Since 31 March 2020, council finances have faced a turbulent time. There has been massive reduction in income – from business rates and council tax, from investments and from fees and charges.