The Labour Group Leader has pointed to “big gambles” made by the Conservative administration on Wichelstowe and the emerging Town Centre Park as the current reasons why the Council has such significant debts.
What’s more, when the Conservative Party took control of Swindon Borough Council from Labour in 2004 they inherited a budget surplus of £6.6m.
The Labour Group Leader has slammed the Conservative administration for getting Swindon Borough Council in to a debt of £92m.
On Page 50 of the recent Cabinet reports the Cabinet Member for Finance makes clear that the Council’s external debt is £92m. And on Page 30 he makes clear that the Council’s debt management costs is currently at £8.7m.
The Labour Group Leader has pointed to “big gambles” made by the Conservative administration on Wichelstowe and the emerging Town Centre Park as the current reasons why the Council has such significant debts.
What’s more, when the Conservative Party took control of Swindon Borough Council from Labour in 2004 they inherited a budget surplus of £6.6m.
The Labour Group Leader, Councillor Jim Grant, said:
“What the Conservatives have admitted in this report is that while government funding cuts are forcing the Council to make cuts every year, it is the Council’s debt charges that are the biggest pressure on the budget, costing around £8m. And the £8m debt charges are as a result of this Conservative administration racking up a debt of £92m. They have racked up this debt despite inheriting a budget surplus of £6.6m from Labour in 2004.
The key reason why we have such a large debt is that the Conservative administration took a big gamble on the Wichelstowe project by borrowing £50m to take on the development itself. The Wichelstowe project has now been halted and as a result the Council is having to manage interest payments from the borrowing they took out.
Another big gamble the Conservative administration has taken is borrowing £15m to build a car park on the Union Square site. There is no guarantee this will pay for itself and Swindon Council-taxpayers are currently having to pay for this through the debt charges incurred from borrowing.
So in effect, Swindon’s Council-tax payers are having their services cut, because the Conservative administration have taken gambles on projects like Wichelstowe which are not paying off.”
Cllr Jim Grant
Swindon Labour Group Leader