We questioned MHCLG as to whether it has sufficient oversight over local government to foresee financial issues and intervene where appropriate. The lack of audited accounts being published leads to a lack of transparency over local authority matters during a time of worsening financial health for those same local authorities as rising populations, higher demand on social care and lower council incomes are putting local authorities under pressure.36 In 2023 Birmingham City, Nottingham City and Woking Borough councils issued Section 114 notices indicating that forecast income was insufficient to meet forecast expenditure, meaning that they were effectively bankrupt.