Coronavirus threatens to take a ‘catastrophic’ toll on local services unless ministers step up to support town halls, Boris Johnson has been warned - with Manchester council alone now facing a potential £152m shortfall due to the pandemic.
Local authorities across the region have told the Manchester Evening News that government funding announced for them in recent weeks covers just a fraction of the vast costs and loss of income they are already racking up.
A couple of weeks ago Trafford council had to borrow from a commercial bank in order to cover its day-to-day costs after it ran out of cash, while Manchester currently looks set to be particularly hard-hit thanks to the loss of commercial income from events such as Parklife, dwindling