BRADFORD Council is among the local authorities "teetering on the edge of financial disaster", according to a new report.

The authority has been highlighted in a study, called Councils on the Brink, by the union Unison.

It found that authorities across England, Scotland and Wales face a collective funding shortfall of £4.3 billion in 2025-26, which will rise to £8.5bn by 2026-27 - with "massive cuts" likely to essential services and jobs.

According to Unison's research, the five Councils with the biggest predicted shortfalls for 2025-26 are Hampshire County Council (£132 million), Bradford Council (£126m), Birmingham City Council (£119m), Somerset Council (£104m) and Leicester City Council (£90m).

Unison said the funding gap measures the difference between each Council's income and the amount needed to maintain promised service levels. 

Christina McAnea, Unison's general secretary, said: "Councils are teetering on the brink of financial disaster.

"Local authorities were clobbered by the previous Government, whose harsh financial settlements left Councils with no option but to sell off the family silver, auction off green spaces, close key community facilities and let thousands of workers go. 

"Only swift and decisive action to stabilise local finances will do."

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: "We have been very clear that our finances, like many others across the country, are incredibly challenged due to increasing costs.  

"All Council staff and partners have been making significant changes and financial savings in order to reach overall financial sustainability, which is part of a five-year plan.

"We know that in the short-term, more extremely difficult decisions will have to be made about the services we provide - and more savings will need to be made."

Cllr Mike Pollard, finance and projects lead for the opposition Conservatives on Bradford Council, said he was mostly not surprised by Unison's report but said he "raised an eyebrow" at Bradford Council "appearing to be in deeper trouble than Birmingham, which takes some doing". Birmingham City Council declared it was effectively bankrupt last year.

Cllr Pollard added: "The response from the leader of the Council is also nothing new, wholly blaming external factors, when in Bradford's case a large part of the shortage, many tens of millions of it, is due directly to the ineptitude of the Council’s Labour Executive Committee."

Earlier this year, the then-Tory Government agreed to provide "exceptional financial support" to Bradford Council - which would have otherwise faced effective bankruptcy.

It would allow the Council to borrow money to balance its books - something not usually allowed. 

A spokesperson for the new Labour Government said: "This Government will fix the foundations of local Government and work closely with the sector to do so. 

"We will get Councils back on their feet by getting the basics right - providing more stability through multi-year funding settlements, ending competitive bidding for pots of money and reforming the local audit system."