UK councils facing bankruptcy

Nottingham and Birmingham are among the UK local councils that have effectively declared themselves bankrupt. In order to plug their funding gaps, vital services such as social care are being cut back, but so are those that make up the cities’ cultural life, like museums and librairies, as well as everyday essentials including street lights and public toilets. Almost half of all British local authorities fear that they will not have enough money to get through the next two years.

This programme by German broadcaster ZDF is part of the European Collection, a joint initiative from European public service media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR, RTBF and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.