THE announcement that Warrington Borough Council has taken out a loan of £150 million, of which £100 million will be mainly used to finance the town centre redevelopment scheme, gives rise to concern on three counts.
1: The burden faced by council taxpayers over the 40-year period of the loan 2: The risk that the claimed savings in financing may not be fully achieved.
(The money has been obtained via a bond, where the interest rate may vary rather than a traditional PWLB loan where the rate is fixed).
3: The quality of governance, not helped by the report in the Warrington Guardian’s Midweek edition (Tuesday, September 15) that councillors did not know the amount of the borough council’s debt and were to be given training sessions on how its capital programme is financed.
The fact that the council’s scrutiny committee put the issue of borrowing policy in its work programme on September 1 – a week after the bond was obtained – does not inspire confidence.
CHRIS HAGGETT
Penketh
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