In May 2019 we published analysis identifying 11 authorities the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) said would have "fully exhausted" reserves within four years unless they topped them up.
The BBC analysis of government data followed work by Cipfa, which published a "resilience" index of councils, but stopped short of naming those it warned were depleting reserves the fastest.
The analysis revealed which 11 of the 152 major English councils have used so much of their reserves since 2015 that Cipfa said they would run out within four years if spending patterns continued.
Croydon Council appeared to have spent more than half of its reserves but said the government data was "inaccurate" and its reserves "remain strong". The council has asked for them to be corrected.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing
- CSV: Council accounts analysis
- XLSX: Change in useable reserves between March 2015 and March 2018
- Councillor Richard Watts, Local Government Association
- Professor Tony Travers, London School of Economics
- Spokesperson, Northamptonshire County Council
- Spokesperson, Somerset County Council
- Spokeswoman, Rotherham Council
- Councillor Shane Hebb, deputy leader, Thurrock Council
- Spokesperson, Croydon Council
- Spokesperson, Stoke-on-Trent City Council
- Spokesperson, Sutton Council
- Spokesperson, Knowsley Council
- Spokesperson, Greenwich Council
- Spokesperson, Medway Council
- Heather Jameson, editor, the Municipal Journal
- Neil Amin Smith, economist, The Institute for Fiscal Studies
- Government spokesman
- Bar chart: Councils with the biggest drop in reserves 2015-2018
- Line chart: Average Band D council tax in England, change since 2010
- R notebook detailing the process of downloading, cleaning, and analysing council accounts
- R notebook detailing the process of analysing council accounts in order to arrive at a measure of 'resilience'
We have also looked at council finances in the following stories: