COUNCIL budgets collectively have a £3.5 billion deficit, with only a minority on course to balance their books, Unison has warned.

More than 100 local authorities are at least £10 million short of their planned spending requirements, while 15 are as much as £40m adrift, said the union.

It was “extremely likely” local authorities will have to make huge cuts in essential services and jobs, according to information it gathered from local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales.

The data showed the “dire state” of local government funding in the wake of Birmingham City Council becoming the latest to declare effective bankruptcy following more than a decade of austerity cuts.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Communities rely on their local authorities for all manner of essential services, such as waste collection, social care, road repairs and parks and other open spaces.

“But councils are on their knees. Ministers seem to care very little about public services and local government has been hit hard over very many years.

“Essential services can’t run on thin air. Staff levels have already been cut to the bone in desperate attempts to balance the books.

“Yet more service cuts and job losses are sadly inevitable across the country unless the government intervenes with the lifeline of significant extra funding.

“Not just for those on the brink, but to councils everywhere.”

Last week a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that councils have sold a staggering £15bn-worth of public land and buildings since 2010.

It found communities had lost an estimated 75,000 assets since the Tories came into power, warning: “Our economy and democracy are not yet structured to help people everywhere thrive.”

The Department for Levelling Up has been contacted for comment.