Broken Bradford: A City On The Brink - the people of Bradford are about to be hit by the town hall bus and they don't even know it

In today’s special investigation – Broken Bradford: A City On The Brink – this newspaper examines the full extent of cuts coming whilst seeking, on behalf of the people of Bradford and its districts, explanations and rationales from those charged with taking these difficult decisions.

Already, Leader of Bradford Council, Coun Susan Hinchcliffe, is deeply concerned about who will suffer when someone has to decide whether neglecting the needy is less perturbing than neglecting neighbourhoods. One will have to give.

More than a decade of punitive, insidious funding cuts to the council’s budget, alongside rising demands on the local authority and soaring costs, has led it to this perilous precipice where, in the absence of rapid and meaningful state intervention, going under is to all intents and purposes an mathematical inevitability. And make no mistake, this is emblematic of something systemic. Senior local Government experts have told this newspaper that every council in the country will go backrupt within three years, unless major reform is enacted – immediately.