It is arguably no longer a surprise when a local authority declares itself in effect bankrupt. Nottingham city council is the fourth English council in the last 12 months to issue the dreaded section 114 notice, and the sixth in three years. It almost certainly will not be the last.
To loosely paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, each council crashes in its own unhappy way. Woking, Croydon, Slough and Thurrock imploded under the weight of gigantic loans borrowed to fund their various risky commercial investments; Birmingham was dragged down by a huge equal pay liability.
