This flags councils that asked for an emergency bailout but then pulled the request, or were only offered help with strings attached. Why care: it separates councils that came close to the edge but stepped back from those that actually took the money. If a council has this flag, it seriously considered a bailout — a warning sign even if no cash changed hands.
| name | efs_withdrawn_or_conditional |
|---|---|
| dataset | 04-efs-s114 |
| kind | extracted |
| type | boolean / text |
| unit | boolean (with qualifying text) |
| grain | council-year |
| role | feature |
| source | data/efs-<year>.csv / data/efs-all-years.csv: rows where `col2` has no parseable `£` figure or carries qualifying text |
| period | 2020-21 to 2026-27 |
| missingness | Derived from free-text parsing of `col2`; qualifying language is inconsistent, so classification depends on the regex/rules used. |
| score_note | Useful refiner distinguishing near-misses, but a modifier rather than a distress outcome. |
| peer_group | council class (district / county / unitary / metropolitan / London) — not yet scored on the leaderboard |
Marks council-years where EFS was requested but withdrawn, or where support was conditional/in-principle only (e.g. Bexley 2020-21 withdrew its request). It distinguishes councils that approached the brink from those that actually took support. Interpretation of the qualifying free text should be preserved alongside the flag.