Top Tory Michael Gove has been accused of “stabbing” local government Conservatives in the back after he claimed some councils were facing bankruptcy because of poor leadership and not reduced funding.

The cabinet member made the remarks yesterday when giving evidence to the parliamentary Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee.

He was asked by members about funding for local government and the recent S114 notices issued by Birmingham and Nottingham city councils, which mean they will only be funding services they have a legal obligation to - such as adults and children’s care.

Mr Gove said although there were pressures on local government, a survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) - which said one in five councils was at risk of going under - was “an overestimate”.

He said: “Each of the local authorities that have had to issue section 114 notices have had failures of leadership, management and governance, and some have taken risks that were not merited.

“I would say that saying one in five are at risk is an overestimate, but, of course, we keep a close look at the pressures faced by local government.”

As well as Birmingham and Nottingham, the other councils to so far issue 114s are Northamptonshire, Thurrock, Birmingham, Hackney, Slough, Croydon and Woking.

All of these are Labour or Lib Dem-run apart from Northamptonshire and Thurrock which are under Conservative control.

Read more: Kent County Council at risk of going under

The veteran politician’s remarks have been slammed by fellow Tory Cllr Adrian Gulvin who is leader of the party in Medway and described them as “unhelpful”, “simplistic”, and “not actually true”.

He believes the comments were an attempt to shift the blame after reduced funding from central government.

He said: “I think, as [former Tory MP] Alan Clarke said, Mr Gove is being economical with the actualité. I think he’s just trying to deflect this away from him and his department.

“While I certainly agree that from 2010 there was a very strong case to reduce public expenditure because of the banking crisis, I think there was too much put onto local government to cut back and not other areas of government expenditure.

“I do not think it’s helpful. He has to remember there are local elections every year, for Conservative councillors to be stabbed in the back by their own side is not particularly helpful to be honest.

“Just to say it’s down to local government mismanagement of its finances is very simplistic and not actually true. There are a lot of councils out there who have managed their finances very well and they are now beginning to feel the pinch.”

Nottingham is the seventh council to issue a S114 notice since 2018, which means it cannot balance its budget and so must give up control to central government.

The LGA warned that financial pressures faced by local authorities are becoming too great and more S114 notices are certain to come.

Medway, whose total budget for 2023/24 is £392.5 million, currently faces a projected £12 million overspend which it needs to reduce by February if it wants to avoid the same fate.

Labour says since 2010, the authority has seen a 91% reduction in its revenue support grant - money it receives directly from the government. It has gone from £85.1 million to £7.3 million.

Although acknowledging funding has fallen, the Tory opposition says this doesn’t take into account 2013 changes which mean councils keep more of the money they raise with business rates.

But Cllr Gulvin is adamant Mr Gove should consider looking at central government spending as local councils are battling to keep afloat and other areas should be targeted.

He said: “They should look at central government post-pandemic, the civil service is larger than it has ever been. There’s huge scope for cutbacks there.

“Over the last four or five years, as far as Medway is concerned, it has become more difficult to achieve a balanced budget.”

However, he wasn’t optimistic that a change of government would result in much difference, saying: “If there’s a Labour government next year, I very much doubt they will be particularly generous to local government because they probably won’t be able to afford it.”

Up until May, Cllr Gulvin was a long-standing member of the Tory-led administration - latterly holding the position of cabinet member for resources.

Medway Council leader Cllr Vince Maple (Lab) has said he is confident his administration will deliver a balanced budget next February, but has repeatedly said the decline in central government funding must be reversed.