Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Devolution and Finance, responding to findings by the IFS that councils are concerned about impact of cuts, said:

 “The IFS’s shock findings that five out of six councils are not confident they can avoid significant reductions in service quality over the next five years is yet more evidence of the damage that government cuts to local government funding is having. The lack of certainty over future funding is undermining local councils’ ability to respond to growing need in their area.

“Earlier this year we pushed the Government to deliver a properly thought out solution to local government funding, only for the process to be shelved because of the snap general election that they called.

"We’re not simply scare mongering when we say that councils face a very real risk of collapsing under the combination of growing need - especially for social care - government cuts to core funding, and the sheer lack of clarity on what a funding formula will look like in the future. And let’s be clear, it’s local residents who will ultimately pay the price of unfunded and overstretched services.”