Why Do Councils Go Bust?

Hilly said:

I think the workers are getting mighty sick of the wont works …….. trouble ahead !

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I tell all the Politicians around here" I hope your building more prisons"?
They look at me stupid and ask why?
I say well that's where we are all heading as we just CANNOT AFFORD any more rates, council tax ,Tourism levy ,direct and indirect taxes.

Still Farming said:

I tell all the Politicians around here" I hope your building more prisons"?
They look at me stupid and ask why?
I say well that's where we are all heading as we just CANNOT AFFORD any more rates, council tax ,Tourism levy ,direct and indirect taxes.

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If you ask some business rent n rates omg i wouldnt do it they get crucified big time .

Birmingham City council to raise their council tax by 20%, as far as cost cutting measures their inclusivity and diversity programmes are to be curtailed.

I’m watching the road repair programme in town.
Oooh, great the holes and damaged surfaces have now been marked.
By the time the actual repair crew get to the area the marking will have disappeared
SS

Netherfield said:

View attachment 1167589


I'm sure that this will stop the problems in Gaza

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This really pisses me off.
Will worry the Green Party to the core, but along with hand wringing over transgender BS, they have just lost my vote.
Thought their usp was promoting renewables, clean rivers, and electric buses etc for all...

The bankrupt council asking angry locals to fund its white elephants​

Faced with more than £1bn in debt, Woking Council is turning to residents for help

Mattie Brignal, SENIOR MONEY REPORTER5 March 2024 • 5:30pm

Related Topics

• Woking,
• Local councils,
• Debt

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Over the last decade Woking Borough Council’s misguided dream to transform the quiet commuter town into the “Singapore of Surrey”, a shiny modern metropolis, has backfired disastrously.
Hundreds of millions of pounds have been pumped into a string of risky property investments and regeneration deals that locals have branded “appalling” and “shameful”.
The spending spree forced the local authority to declare itself effectively bankrupt in June after racking up a £1.2bn deficit. It is a level of debt that might be expected of a large city rather than a borough of 100,000 inhabitants.
The brakes have been slammed on all non-essential spending and a drastic package of cuts was passed last month to keep the council afloat. Community care projects, buses and public toilets are all earmarked for the chop. The council has even called on residents of Woking to voluntarily donate money to keep services running.
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“It’s disgusting,” says Annie Hunt, a local physiotherapist. “They’ve badly overspent and been really stupid. Everyone’s quite unhappy.”
Woking town centre is filled with reminders of the council’s grand ambitions. A trio of 30-storey towers dominate the skyline. On a clear day, the council wanted these buildings – part of the Victoria Square redevelopment – to be visible from the Shard in London.

Annie Hunt thinks the opening of a four-star Hilton hotel in Woking is a 'ridiculous waste' CREDIT: JEFF GILBERT
The project has been dogged with problems.
Originally estimated to cost £150m, the figure ballooned to £700m due to delays, construction setbacks and the pandemic. Woking council borrowed the money from the Public Works Loan Board, a government body which has since been abolished and its functions taken over by the Treasury.
Then, several panels of cladding came loose from the tower block and fell to earth in October 2021. Woking Borough Council issued a statement at the time to say that Victoria Square Woking Ltd – the joint venture company behind the project – was “working closely” with the site contractor to “resolve the current situation”. There were no reported injuries or damage to property.
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Ms Hunt points to one of the tower blocks, which is due to open soon as a four-star Hilton hotel. “It’s a ridiculous waste,” she says. “It could have killed someone.”
Most upsetting, Ms Hunt says, is the planned closure of all but one day centre for elderly and disabled residents in the borough. “All those people who can’t get out any more, all the mental health issues. It’s incredibly sad.”
She is standing next to a sculpture of a barefoot man lying on his back, one of a series by Woking-born sculptor Sean Henry dotted around the town. Two of the statues, “The Seated Man” and “The Wanderer”, cost the local authority a total of £157,500.

Many residents see the town's 'living walls' as fund-sapping white elephants CREDIT: Gillian Pullinger/Alamy Stock Photo
A verdant array of 9,700 trailing plants was installed above the shopping centre at Wolsey Place. The “living wall” – dubbed the “Hanging Gardens of Woking” by locals – was designed to add vibrancy to a tired-looking block of 1960s maisonnettes. But many residents see it as another white elephant sapping funds away from basic provisions that matter much more.
The scale of the council’s financial mismanagement is staggering. Its annual tax take of £11m is dwarfed by the £62m it spends servicing its debt. It has £1.8bn of loans for assets whose value has plunged by around £600m since they were purchased.
By 2026, the council will have accumulated debts of £2.4bn, which is 100 times the size of its annual £24m budget, according to a government review in May. That works out at a notional debt of £19,000 per resident, and would make it England’s most indebted council relative to its size.
To prop up the beleaguered authority, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has agreed an “exceptional” £785m bailout package. Eighteen other indebted councils have also been given handouts to stop them going bust.

The Government has granted permission for Woking Borough Council to raise council tax to 10pc next year, double the usual maximum permitted.
To secure the bailout money, the authority must follow through with a drastic series of cuts worth £8.4m, including closing public toilets, scrapping funding for daycare projects and increasing prices at the much-loved Pool in the Park.
Woking Community Transport, which runs the door-to-door Dial-a-Ride bus service for elderly residents, will lose its £170,000 grant from April 1.
Citizens Advice Woking has said it has received a funding cut from £200,000 a year to just £30,000, and will only be forced to cut its opening times from five days a week to three mornings. Grounds maintenance and street cleaning services are set to be scaled back to statutory levels.
The prevailing sense in Woking is that residents are being forced to pay more but getting much less. The council has gone as far as to urge residents to voluntarily donate to a fund to support non-essential services: deputy council leader Will Forster has previously said that residents, “especially those in the Band H council tax group, the most expensive houses”, should be asked to donate.

Local pensioner Judith Davis council's reckless spending and subsequent cutbacks are 'shameful' CREDIT: JEFF GILBERT
Judith Davis, a pensioner, is furious about the council’s reckless spending, and the cutting of the Dial-A-Ride bus grant. “It’s horrendous, it’s appalling. These buses are needed by people who otherwise can’t get out.
“We’re talking about people’s quality of life. It will take years off their lives. They’ve got no social connection living on their own. It’s their lifeline. I’m so upset about it.
“The parks are going to be unkempt. My son lives in Horsell where there are big tubs of flowers in the park. They’ve said these will have to go. The [Women’s Institute] has said they’ll take over the maintenance. Local people are trying to do their best. But you can’t rely on this – people don’t have the time or energy to look after the parks.
“Where’s the oversight? It’s absolutely shameful.”
Woking Borough Council was approached for comment.
While Woking is an extreme case, councils across the country are grappling with a toxic cocktail of long-term government funding cuts and soaring demand for social care and housing. This crisis in local authority funding means four in 10 councils in England are at risk of going bust over the next five years, data from Grant Thornton shows.
For residents, this means higher tax bills. Only eight of the 137 local authorities that have published budgets for next year will raise council tax by less than the maximum of 4.99pc. Slough and Thurrock councils have also been given permission to raise the levy to 10pc.
Only Birmingham City Council, which declared itself effectively bankrupt last year, is imposing a rise of 21pc over two years, alongside £300m of cuts. Independent commissioners were brought in to help manage the Labour-run council, which owes almost £3bn to lenders. Street lights will be dimmed and bin collections made fortnightly in Birmingham, where up to 600 council staff could lose their jobs.

Most locals blame Woking's problems on the Tories CREDIT: JEFF GILBERT
These large council tax hikes are accelerating an upward trend that has lasted decades. The average council tax bill has risen by almost 80pc in real terms since the levy was introduced 30 years ago, according to analysis by the Taxpayers’ Alliance pressure group.
Most locals blame Woking’s problems on the Tories who either controlled or led the council for the decade up to May 2022, when they were ousted by the Liberal Democrats.
Woking’s local Conservative group has previously apologised, saying it took its share of responsibility for “not ensuring that a more robust financial platform” was in place to protect the council against “unforeseen global challenges”.
Suzanne Yeo, a mother of one, says it’s “sad” that financial mismanagement has taken the buzz out of Woking. “So much work’s been done already to bring the Hilton and create lots of jobs, but now it’s all gone silent.
“There are a lot of places closing. Woking has the potential to be really, really good, but the money’s dried up. It’s going to impact families especially. People move here to bring up their kids.”
Councillor Ann-Marie Barker, leader of Woking Borough Council, says that while the Victoria Square development was built “at great cost” to the council, “the build-to-rent apartments are 98pc rented out, Marks & Spencer is trading well and there are new shops coming to the centre”.

The Lightbox invigilator Brenda Martin says the museum and art gallery came close to shutting down CREDIT: Jeff Gilbert
The Lightbox museum and art gallery is one Woking establishment that has side-stepped disaster. Along with the imposing New Victoria Theatre, The Lightbox has helped boost Woking’s reputation as a cultural centre, hosting exhibitions by artists such as Damien Hirst, Sophie Ryder and, currently, Grayson Perry.
The gallery runs community events – including getting toddlers into art and providing relief for teenage care-givers – which were also threatened by the council’s financial woes.
Sarah Brown, The Lightbox’s director, was forced to find alternative funding to keep the gallery afloat after the “section 114” bankruptcy notice prompted all discretionary spending to be frozen. “We thought we were going to have to shut at Christmas,” says Julie Hynes, who works at the gallery. “It was terrifying.”
After months of uncertainty, £130,000 was reallocated to The Lightbox out of the £1m the council received from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Ms Brown also managed to secure funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
“The gallery is a little oasis,” says Brenda Martin, an invigilator at the gallery. “The staff here work incredibly hard and the value for money is just unbelievable. And we came so close to losing it.”

little_p said:

Ah, 'spinal points'. Where you said 'points' I thought that you meant points in a job evaluation scheme.

Of course for most jobs there would be in a banding, so a post holder would progress up the spinal points of that band the longer that they have in post.

But surely being given additional spinal points is mostly at senior level?
And lets not forget about the 'market rate supplement'! The ability for senior managers to dream up ways to have their noses in the trough knows no bounds.

But surely additional spinal points at minion level is relatively unheard of (unless their a career 'gateway')?

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The spinal column table is used for all local govt employees, we used it for every employee from the clerk down to the litter picker. , admittedly the litter picker doesn't gain extra points for additional repsonsibilities etc, but does get the extra points after 5 years for longer service.

Ffermer Bach said:

“It’s disgusting,” says Annie Hunt, a local physiotherapist. “They’ve badly overspent and been really stupid. Everyone’s quite unhappy.”

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TBH if the general public think like this then those on the Council must be laughing their socks off.

Someone has made a killing on the side, same as has happened with HS2. First thing that happened was supplier prices doubled & tripled.

bluebell said:

My view, councils, and councillors should be "made" to answer for any "bad" decisions made, and not just "quitely" be able to retire on a big fat tax payers paid pension? For those that follow, then, to try to clear the "mess" they have caused and left? If they knew that before hand, it might make them waken up?

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Cllrs aren't well rewarded for their service, typically depending on the size of the council their allowance will be between 5 and 10k. The cabinet and leader get extra, leader might get 25k these days. Also contrary to belief there is no pension. What they fo get is their face plastered everywhere and the ability to promote their beliefs.
Most in cases like Woking will have been told by council officers that the schemes they were voting for where fail proof. Personally if I didn't understand it I wouldn't vote, but I would bet many if them did.
Yesterday I was reading about Brighton Council, £60m of damage to pavements from effect of banning glyphosate, £50m debt over observation tower, where operator was meant to pay loan back but hasn't, huge costs from compulsory racial bias lessons in schools.

Number of folk in prison for trivial things Vs number of folk imprisoned for misconduct in public office?

Perhaps things need reassessing as to what does more harm to society.

bluebell said:

My view, councils, and councillors should be "made" to answer for any "bad" decisions made, and not just "quitely" be able to retire on a big fat tax payers paid pension? For those that follow, then, to try to clear the "mess" they have caused and left? If they knew that before hand, it might make them waken up?

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As should everyone bot just councillors …

Our local council is a shower. Couldn't manage a pish up in a proverbial.

This is the problem with these people, a lot of them don't have two brain cells to rub together and have no experience of business whatsoever.

Clive said:

labour ones tend to be the biggest spenders of cash they don’t have

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They are all at it. Quick to employ legions of people but don't have a scoobies in reality. Wasted money at every juncture here.

Clive said:

public sector pensions WAY to generous for decades and we are now paying for that

a friend works in local authority HR - she tells me thousands retired in their 40’s on final salary and often index linked pensions and paying that is the vast majority of their budget demand

these pensions are a scandal no one seems to talk about

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That is appalling.