Councils across the North East are facing a financial black hole of more than £200m, amid fears a £5bn nationwide shortfall could leave basic services at risk.

Data obtained by the BBC revealed councils face, on average, a £33m deficit by 2025/26, a rise of 60 per cent from two years ago.

Between them the 12 local authorities in our region have a £208.4m gap in their budgets with, Gateshead Council facing the biggest black hole - predicted to be worth £45.9m.

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Union Unison said councils “simply don’t have the funds to provide even statutory services” and some would not be able to offer the “legal minimum of care” next year, while the Local Government Association pointed to inflation and increasing wage and energy costs adding “billions” to town hall bills.

North East councils are already planning to make more than £105m in savings this year and are having to use a combined £82m worth of reserves to balance the books.

Darlington and Hartlepool Borough Councils did not provide any data to be used in the study by the BBC’s Shared Data Unit.

Nationally 190 councils said they would need to find £5.2bn to balance the books by April 2026 – even after making £2.5bn of cuts this year.

Mike Short, Unison’s head of local government said: "Council finances are in the direst of states. As the government tightens the squeeze on local budgets, services either vanish or are scaled down dramatically. 

"Cash-starved councils have had to go cap in hand to ministers for emergency support or raid already depleted reserves in a desperate attempt to balance the books.

"This is not a sustainable situation. Local authorities simply don't have the funds to provide even statutory services. That's why social services directors warned recently that councils probably can't offer even the legal minimum of care support next year.

"Council employees have had enough. Pay rises haven't kept up with the cost of living. And staff want to take pride in their jobs and run good quality services for local residents. This is no longer possible. It's no wonder so many are quitting for pastures new.

"As staff leave, there's no money to replace them, which piles on the pressure for those remaining. In social work, staff shortages have led to excessive workloads, putting vulnerable families at risk.

"Decent, well-resourced public services are essential. They're a driver of economic growth and the fabric holding communities together."

Cllr Shaun Davies, chair of the Local Government Association, called on the Government to deliver a “long-term plan to sufficiently fund local services”, including multi-year funding settlements to provide greater certainty.

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A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up Housing, and Communities said: “No decision on funding levels for beyond 2024-25 in England will be taken until the next Spending Review, so these numbers are unsupported.

“Councils in England have benefitted from an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1bn in 2023-24 compared to the previous year, with almost £60bn made available for local government overall.

“We are making up to £4.7bn available for the adult social care system in England in 2024-25 and have also confirmed an uplift to the Revenue Support Grant, whilst setting out a core council tax referendum principle for 2024-25 of 3%, plus a further 2% for councils with adult social care responsibilities.”