Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore has found official confirmation of his much maligned 'jaws of doom' narrative - that councils face financial ruin due to government cuts.
The National Audit Office (NAO) report into local government finance says funding cuts of 37 per cent since 2010 have left more than half of major authorities at risk of failing to meet their medium-term budget plans.
The report also claims the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), led by Eric Pickles, has only "limited understanding" of the impact of the cuts on the ground and the ability of town halls to take more cuts.
Since taking control of Birmingham City Council in 2012, Labour leader Sir Albert Bore has warned, often against a barrage of criticism, that huge cuts means "the end of local government as we know it" and the loss of cherished services.
Coun Bore (Lab Ladywood) said: "We are pleased that an informed and respected observer such as the National Audit Office has recognised what we have been saying for a long time - central government cuts are placing enormous pressure upon councils and many are struggling to cope with the challenge they face.
"As the NAO says, the DCLG needs to be looking at this more robustly than has been the case in the past. The DCLG needs to be better informed of the problems we are facing.
"Here in Birmingham, we have lobbied extensively - our hope now is the feedback from an impartial organisation such as the NAO means the issues we have been raising will finally be taken seriously at Westminster."
Projected funding cuts mean Birmingham City Council is planning for £300 million cuts over the next four years, on top of £460 million since 2010.
The council is also dealing with soaring costs due to rising demand for social care and huge debts from more than £1.1 billion of historic equal pay claims.
It has lost about 35 per cent of its spending power since 2010. It has also cut 7,000 of its 21,000 workforce, with a further 6,000 to 7,000 projected to go by 2018.
The NAO said the picture was bleak for local authorities throughout the UK and ministers were in the dark over the impact of cuts.
NAO head Amyas Morse said: "Local authorities have worked hard to manage reductions in government funding at a time of austerity. At the same time, there is evidence of some service reductions.
"The department really needs to be better informed about the situation on the ground among local authorities across England, in a much more active way, in order to head off serious problems before they happen."
But Tory Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins claimed the brutal cuts were "fair".
"Every bit of the public sector needs to do their bit to tackle the deficit," he said.
"The reality is, since 2010 budgets have been balanced, council tax has fallen by 11 per cent in real-terms and public satisfaction with local government has been maintained."
