The Government needs to set out plan to tackle missing and unaudited data on local authority finances
The crisis in local government finances is a major concern with local authorities up and down the country sounding alarm bells over their financial health.
People would rightly expect in instances such as this that the central government will have a clear picture of the financial health of the 426 English local authorities. However, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned that the Government is flying blind when it comes to council finances.
At a time when the taxpayer burden has never been higher, the lack of sufficient Government oversight over worsening local authority finances is deeply worrying.
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The PAC report warns of a lack of financial transparency for local authorities, at the same time as they face rising populations, higher demand on social care and lower council incomes.
The overall impact of the missing data is estimated as net income being overstated in the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) by £34.4bn and net debt overstated by £31.7bn. The Government needs to set out a plan for reducing the level of missing and unaudited data within the WGA.