Council Debt Levels and How It May Effect Services and Council Tax in Your Area
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As we all know I guess many councils have extreme debt levels. I think there is approaching £120 billion of debt shared across all councils of the UK now and servicing this debt is getting to be a larger and larger percentage of the money raised by council tax which of course effects services available locally. £120 billion is on average roughly £2000 for every person in the country or £4000 for every working person. This is just council debt, not the main government debt or pension liabilities or other types of debt related to the economy like quantitive easing where the government just printed more money.
Here is a council tax debt map so you can check the debt levels for your area. Some have extreme debts and some have no debts at all, even a surplus in some areas. The darker the colour the more extreme the debt and the more likely extreme cuts in services and more extreme rises in council tax likely in the following years. This is not really political as all parties have been shown to be completely incompetent and irresponsible in this regard its just the reality we have to deal with. However for those who rely on local services or need to budget for future council tax rises it could be useful information.
uk.news.yahoo.com/map-how-bankrupt-local-council-elections-112753612.html
I was going to say it seems to be the less populated places showing in white that have less debt B, then i clicked on a dark red section and it shows the highlands , which i thought would have had less
telmel I think its like MP's constituencies where councils to a degree need to have a reasonable number of people living in the areas so city councils can be very small in area and less densely populated areas get big council areas like in Scotland but the number of people living in each area is roughly similar although writing that I realise some councils have a lot more councillors than some others so its probably some sort of ratio between number of residents and each councillor.
Fantastic excuse for my local council paying for a second house and expenses for her family
Our council doesn’t collect unpaid council tax very well, half of our council debt is made up of unpaid council tax. The council also waste money on glory passion projects or replaces and removes things for no public benefit. They get public objections but carry on regardless or say don’t worry it’s already been budgeted for - missing the whole point that just because it’s in the budget doesn’t mean you have to spend the cash. There’s also this if we don’t spend it we won’t get it again, which all councils seem to have from the top down they are badly run. It is not about politics but the council paid staff and the top council executives on large salaries who are never held personally accountable or responsible and keep receiving the money and running things badly!!
Gromit22 It's my experience that politicians either local or national have huge egos but very little common sense and ability. Really we need to set a high academic standard that people must meet before they can try to elected as a councillor or MP. I would of thought Economics, mathematics and business management would be high priorities to be included.
BonzoBanana Most MPs have degrees in "proper subjects" like you have suggested. But like you said have very little common sense and ability. Most of them are only in it for the perks - wages, £20,000 yearly allowances, subsides meals and drinks, plenty of time off, "free" tickets to Wimbledon, cricket, football, etc
jam45 I don't think they do, some do of course but a huge amount have qualifications that are not helpful in their roles and others have quite a poor education like our deputy prime minister;
Rayner attended Avondale High School in Stockport. At age 16, she became pregnant, and left school without obtaining any qualifications. She later studied part-time at Stockport College, learning British Sign Language, and gaining an National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) Level 2 in social care.
They declare themselves bankrupt but in reality it's their incompetence. All councils have an emergency fund but this is usually invested. I think it is disgusting that the people have to pay for their accidental f£#k ups.
EmmaWright762 Many are already using their emergency funds because the current financial state is considered a crisis.
BonzoBananaSadly, Thurrock in Essex certainly didn't nor our Southend on Sea council.
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