It’s been another difficult week for local government. Birmingham City Council announced it needs to make up to 600 redundancies to help balance its books and Middlesbrough Council decided to apply to the Government for £15m of emergency funding to avoid effective bankruptcy. Also this week new figures have been released showing just how much debt some local authorities hold. And it’s a lot.  Since 2021 there have been six councils which have declared themselves effectively bankrupt. Given the responsibilities of local government that feels serious for many of us.  So what are the financial pressures facing councils and why? David Aaronovitch is joined by the following experts:
Aileen Murphie, specialist adviser to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities select committee and former National Audit Office Director
Tony Travers, visiting Professor at the LSE’s Department of Government
Kate Ogden, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Production team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill
Sound: Andy Fell
Editor: Richard Vadon

Why is local government in such trouble?

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

News

The H5N1 strain of avian flu isn't new. It was discovered in China in 1996. But in recent years it's started passing from mammal to mammal and it's now rife on cattle farms in the United States. How much should humans worry? David Aaronovitch speaks to: Professor Wendy Barclay, action medical research chair in virology at Imperial College London
Kai Kupferschmidt, science journalist and molecular biologist
Dr Caitlin Rivers, epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Professor Ian Brown, avian virology group at The Pirbright Institute Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editors: Richard Vadon and Emma Rippon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar

Avian flu is evolving but what risk does it pose to us?

David Aaronovitch and guests explore the troubled state of the water industry in the UK. How do companies solve the sewage problem, fix the leaks and reduce the debt mountain? Guests:  Kate Bayliss, research associate in the Department of Economics at SOAS, University of London
David Hall, visiting professor in the Public Services International Research Unit at the University of Greenwich
Sir Dieter Helm, Professor of Energy at the University of Oxford 
Julie Bygraves, public policy analyst and expert on utility finance Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Neil Churchill and Graham Puddifoot

Why is the water industry in so much trouble?

Democrats and Republicans have promised to solve the border crisis in recent times but they've failed and it remains a huge election issue. How does the problem get resolved? David Aaronovitch talks to: Gustavo Solis, investigative border reporter at KPBS television station in San Diego
Doris Meissner is Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program 
Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Fore­­­ign Relations and author of When the World Closed Its Doors: The Covid-19 Tragedy and the Future of Borders  Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Neil Churchill

How does America fix its border crisis?

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the reasons why millions of people in the UK aged between 16 and 64 are neither working nor looking for work and what we can do about it.  Tony Wilson, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies
Sam Avanzo Windett, Deputy Director at the Learning and Work Institute
Torsten Bell, Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: James Beard

Are Britain's missing workers really a problem?

2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. In terms of population size there are none bigger than the six week exercise that got underway last Friday. The world’s biggest democracy - India - has gone to the polls and prime minister Narendra Modi is hoping – perhaps expecting – to win a third term. He first came to power in 2014 and since then fears about “democratic backsliding” have been growing. So how concerned about that should we be? 
 
Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.  Guests: Yogita Limaye, BBC's South Asia Correspondent
Rohan Venkat, editor of “India Inside Out” newsletter
Louise Tillin, Professor of Politics in the India Institute at King’s College London 
Chietigj Bajpaee, senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House.  Production team: Rosamund Jones and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Hal Haines and Sarah Hockley

Why is local government in such trouble?

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