Local government financial resilience: Germany, Italy and UK compared (with a practical tool-kit for local governments)

The increased uncertainty, volatility and complexity under which local governments operate, coupled with recent shocks, starting with the 2008 financial crisis, but also including Brexit and the increasing influx of refugee migrants, have put great emphasis on governmental financial resilience, i.e., how governments cope with shocks affecting their finances. This report increases our understanding of local government financial resilience by presenting the results of a survey of local governments across Italy, the UK and Germany. Analysing the combination of internal and external resilience dimensions against the background of recent crises and across countries, the project not only sheds light on different performance enabling capacities but also helps to achieve a greater understanding of how local governments maintain or build resilience. The capacities, which also assist in keeping particular vulnerabilities in control, are specified in practical guidance linked to this report, a tool-kit for local governments to assess and develop their capacities in order to be better equipped to cope with disruptive events.