The councils fighting to stop themselves going bust

In England more and more councils are in danger of going bust. BBC Panorama has followed the struggles of one such authority and the people who rely on it. The London Borough of Havering is in a fight to stop itself going bust, as seen in the video below. BBC Panorama has followed Havering Council as it has struggled to balance its books.

Council wrestled with decisions over which services to cut and which to protect. This is a quiet crisis, but one that is being played out in town halls up and down England - shaping the quality of our daily lives. Havering says 70% of council spending goes on social care for adults and children. Funding for councils across England is calculated on census information from 13 years ago.

Havering has 10% more people living in the borough than in 2011. Since legal changes in 2015, the number of young people in England eligible for Education, Health and Care Plans has doubled. Eight English councils have declared themselves effectively bankrupt since 2018. One in five English councils now says that it is in danger of going bankrupt.

It#39;s a crisis that cuts across political party lines, experts say. Havering Council has a £21m overspend on a £630m budget this year. Reducing the number of bin collections, dimming streetlights in the early hours, and increasing parking charges are among the money saving plans being considered. Council leader Ray Morgon describes it as the most challenging budget he has seen in the history of Havering Council.

Council tax will rise by 4. 99% - the maximum a council is normally allowed to impose. Havering Council has a legal duty to provide help for people with special needs. 17-year-old Harley had a brain tumour removed as a child and has autism.

The council has helped adapt the family home to make life easier. It also supports Harley getting to and from college. Havering provides school transport for more than 420 children with special needs. The council is considering reducing the number of buses.

For some pupils they could be replaced by car-sharing, but decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. The number of young people eligible for these plans in England has doubled to more than half a million. Paying More for Less: Councils in Crisis is on BBC One at 20:00 on Monday 18 March (20:30 in Wales) In 2013/14 councils in England were spending an average of £120 per person. By 2023/24 that had risen to £212 - a 77% increase.

Calls to Havering#39;s child protection helpline have increased by 60% in the past four years. There has also been an increase in the number of children taken into residential care by the council, and the costs have risen steeply. In its ongoing search for savings, the council expects to close three of its five children#38;s centres. Havering’s population has now grown by 25,000 people - 10% - since 2011.

It includes a big rise in the number of children - up 15%. That#39;s the equivalent of 216 extra school classes of 30. Havering says that while demand for services has increased significantly, the money it gets from central government has reduced in real terms in the last decade. In the past year, Havering has housed more than 500 families in hotels.

Five years ago, there were none. Putting a family in a hotel costs the council about £24,000 a year more than housing them in a rented property. Jonelle says she has been told they could be there for 18 months. In England, the number of requests for council help from people who are homeless has jumped by 12% in a year to 87,000.

19 councils in England have borrowed £2. 5bn from central government this year. In Havering, council officials expect that will mean they get £2m of this money. Liberal Democrats say they want to give councils more powers and increase their funding.

It says it would change the current one-year financial settlements for councils to two years to increase their stability. It would also consult on a longer-term financial settlement. Havering is told it will get the government loan it needs. It means not all the cuts will go ahead and it staves off effective bankruptcy.

But it also saddles Havering with high debt repayments for the next 20 years. The whole system of local government finance needs a complete reset. It#39;s broken. CNN.

com will feature iReporter photos in a weekly Travel Snapshots gallery. Visit CNN. com/Travel each week for a new gallery of snapshots. Please include your name, age and location for the best views.

We will feature the best photos from across the globe in our next Travel Snapshot gallery.