Swindon Borough Council is spending £1m extra on debt charges in 2013/14 than it was in 2012/13. In 2012/13, Swindon Borough Council budgeted £8.7m on debt management which was used to meet the Councils borrowing costs. However Swindon Conservative-controlled Council has budgeted £9.7m on debt management for 2013/14.
Swindon Borough Council is spending £1m extra on debt charges in 2013/14 than it was in 2012/13. In 2012/13, Swindon Borough Council budgeted £8.7m on debt management which was used to meet the Councils borrowing costs. However Swindon Conservative-controlled Council has budgeted £9.7m on debt management for 2013/14.
Last year it was reported in the Swindon Advertiser that Swindon Borough Council had an external debt of £92m.
Swindon's Labour Councillors have pointed to the £45m the Council spent on the Wichelstowe development, the £16m the Council spent on building a new Town Centre Car Park, while demolishing other car parks in the town centre, as well as lots of other smaller wasteful spending such as the £400K on the Wi-Fi project, as the reason why the Council’s debt and borrowing costs continues to rise.
The Swindon Labour Group Leader, Councillor Jim Grant, said: “While the Conservative-controlled council have made cuts to things like Children’s Centres, roads and bus services and have cut back in recent years on grounds maintenance and street cleaning, we now find that they have also had to increase its spending on borrowing costs by £1m.
I think Swindon residents will rightly be asking themselves why has the Conservative administration got Swindon Council in a position that they’re increasing their debt charges budget while making unprecedented cuts to important council services that affect us all?
And the answer is that they have taken the decision that they will spend money on things like an unneeded car park in the Town Centre. At some stage when you make this unnecessary spending your annual debt charges have to go up.
What worries me is that it is likely that the council’s annual debt charges will go up again in the future and that is something we have to try to avoid.”
Cllr Jim Grant
Swindon Labour Group Leader