Sefton Council is, by its own admission, forecast to overspend by £22 million this year. Overall debt has also risen by over 66%, with debts up to £81 million, the highest increase in the entire Liverpool City Region.
Sefton Conservative Leader, Councillor Mike Prendergast, has said that Labour are “out of their depth”.
Commenting, Councillor Prendergast said, “The ever worsening financial situation is a culmination of almost 14 years of poor choices from a Sefton Labour group who have failed to deliver.”
“Children’s Social Care was allowed, by Labour, to get to the stage where it was put into special measures by central government and to a large extent, that has driven the poor state of Sefton’s finances. Since the Inadequate rating from Ofsted, around £300 million has had to be spent fixing a vital department that was broken by Labour.”
“That’s before you get to the £42.5 million it’s going to cost to pay off the loan used to buy Bootle Strand and the around £10 million loaned by Sefton Council to Sandway Homes, not a penny of which has been paid back yet.”
“We’ve also got Sefton Hospitality Operations Limited, a hospitality company that competes against local businesses, losing local taxpayers almost £1.5 million in the process. It’s been a total waste of money”
“It’s almost certain Labour are going to borrow more to finish the MLEC project in Southport as well, because of their failure to secure a building contractor sooner.“
“This all adds up to an endless cycle of borrowing and debt.”
“Since 2012, when Labour took control of Sefton Council, Council Tax has gone up by 50% and will go up again next year. That’s hundreds of pounds more every year that all local residents are having to pay. You are paying for this endless cycle of borrowing and debt.”
“Local people are being made to pay for Labour’s mistakes.”
“The local elections next year, will give people across Sefton the chance to bring real change.“
“We need to focus on local priorities; fixing our roads and pavements, maintaining our parks and heritage assets, improving our town centres and tackling anti-social behaviour, supporting local businesses and using taxpayer money wisely.”
“We can’t carry on expecting local taxpayers to bail out Labour with the never ending cycle of tax and spend we’ve had in Sefton since 2012.”
