Disclosure.Cymru
But Is This Money Ours
But is this money ours
If like us you have looked at your Local Authorities accounts you may say well only around 25% of their income comes from Council Tax the rest comes fromthings like Non Domestic Rates & Revenue Support Grants.
Well the elephant in the room occurred when the Icelandic banks defaulted in 2008, suddenly all of the potential losses became Public/Taxpayer money again. And what you will find is that any money that the "Off Balance Sheet" Local Authority investment schemes make we will not hear anything about, but any major losses are disclosed and those losses are passed back to the taxpayers.
Lets look at some of the comments from when the Local Authorities were looking at combined potential losses of 1 Billion in Icelandic banks in 2008, maybe as we did at the time, you though why have our local authorities got so much money sat in Icelandic banks? Some of the comments certainly give the game away.
"Income from our investments helps to provide front line services."
Nottingham City Council
Will the current situation impact on front line services?
No. This money does not form part of the Council’s revenue budget.
Newark and Sherwood District Council
Lib Dems Julia Goldsworthy said "Ultimately this is council tax payers' money at risk and these are funds which are essential for the delivery of local services,".
For the Conservatives Mr Pickles said no council could have foreseen the collapse of Iceland's banks and said people would be worried about their council tax bills and local services. Earlier in the Commons, he asked the chancellor whether he was "wholly content" that councils' investments would not be covered and the burden "should now fall on council tax payers".
BBC News
Council taxpayers' money deposited with Icelandic banks could be at risk.
It is now feared that the money, totalling hundreds of millions of pounds, could be lost, leading to higher council tax bills and cuts in services. Eric Pickles, the Tory local government spokesman, said that if the investments could not be recovered, in whole or part, residents could face council tax increases or cuts in local services.
The Telegraph
A COUNCIL which may have lost £12.5million of tax payers' money in the Icelandic banking crisis is accused of negligence in a damning government report published today.
Councillor Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: "The LGA, working with councils, expects to get the lion's share of this money back and is working flat out to make sure that the council taxpayer is top of the list for repayment."
Evening Standard
Susie Squire, campaign manager at The TaxPayers’ Alliance, criticised Barnet for being irresponsible with residents’ money. She said: “The taxpayers of Barnet will be shocked to find out that their hard-earned money has been risked in this way. “If Barnet Council had enough money to stash millions in savings accounts, they should have been making tax cuts.
The Times
DORSET County Council is likely to recoup most – but not all – of over £28 million of public money threatened by the Icelandic banking collapse.
At the time of the collapse Dorset County Council had around £225 million spread across 24 banks, with £15 million in Landsbanki and £13.1 in its UK subsidiary Heritable. Dorset Police Authority, whose accounts are managed by the county council, also had £7 million in the banks.
Bournmouth Echo
If like us you have looked at your Local Authorities accounts you may say well only around 25% of their income comes from Council Tax the rest comes fromthings like Non Domestic Rates & Revenue Support Grants.
Well the elephant in the room occurred when the Icelandic banks defaulted in 2008, suddenly all of the potential losses became Public/Taxpayer money again. And what you will find is that any money that the "Off Balance Sheet" Local Authority investment schemes make we will not hear anything about, but any major losses are disclosed and those losses are passed back to the taxpayers.
Lets look at some of the comments from when the Local Authorities were looking at combined potential losses of 1 Billion in Icelandic banks in 2008, maybe as we did at the time, you though why have our local authorities got so much money sat in Icelandic banks? Some of the comments certainly give the game away.
"Income from our investments helps to provide front line services."
Nottingham City Council
Will the current situation impact on front line services?
No. This money does not form part of the Council’s revenue budget.
Newark and Sherwood District Council
Lib Dems Julia Goldsworthy said "Ultimately this is council tax payers' money at risk and these are funds which are essential for the delivery of local services,".
For the Conservatives Mr Pickles said no council could have foreseen the collapse of Iceland's banks and said people would be worried about their council tax bills and local services. Earlier in the Commons, he asked the chancellor whether he was "wholly content" that councils' investments would not be covered and the burden "should now fall on council tax payers".
BBC News
Council taxpayers' money deposited with Icelandic banks could be at risk.
It is now feared that the money, totalling hundreds of millions of pounds, could be lost, leading to higher council tax bills and cuts in services. Eric Pickles, the Tory local government spokesman, said that if the investments could not be recovered, in whole or part, residents could face council tax increases or cuts in local services.
The Telegraph
A COUNCIL which may have lost £12.5million of tax payers' money in the Icelandic banking crisis is accused of negligence in a damning government report published today.
Councillor Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: "The LGA, working with councils, expects to get the lion's share of this money back and is working flat out to make sure that the council taxpayer is top of the list for repayment."
Evening Standard
Susie Squire, campaign manager at The TaxPayers’ Alliance, criticised Barnet for being irresponsible with residents’ money. She said: “The taxpayers of Barnet will be shocked to find out that their hard-earned money has been risked in this way. “If Barnet Council had enough money to stash millions in savings accounts, they should have been making tax cuts.
The Times
DORSET County Council is likely to recoup most – but not all – of over £28 million of public money threatened by the Icelandic banking collapse.
At the time of the collapse Dorset County Council had around £225 million spread across 24 banks, with £15 million in Landsbanki and £13.1 in its UK subsidiary Heritable. Dorset Police Authority, whose accounts are managed by the county council, also had £7 million in the banks.
Bournmouth Echo
There we go, in summary -
1) These investments are all classed as taxpayers money.
2) Taxpayer money is being hidden off balance sheet and then invested and we are told nothing about the returns it is making.
3) If a loss occurs, then those losses are passed back to the taxpayer.
in our view hiding public taxpayer money and keeping the profit and then passing any losses back onto the taxpayer is at least misconduct in public office and fraud by abuse of position. What do you think?
So How Did This Happen
1) These investments are all classed as taxpayers money.
2) Taxpayer money is being hidden off balance sheet and then invested and we are told nothing about the returns it is making.
3) If a loss occurs, then those losses are passed back to the taxpayer.
in our view hiding public taxpayer money and keeping the profit and then passing any losses back onto the taxpayer is at least misconduct in public office and fraud by abuse of position. What do you think?
