8 December (Part 1) - The cost of Covid. Can it really average £56 million per London Borough?
Bexley Council said last month that it was £3·5 million out of pocket following its Covid19 expenditure which may not sound very much compared to the cost of bringing commerce to a grinding halt nationally but it represents nearly 4% on Council Tax. How does that compare with other boroughs?
Not sure to be honest, there is insufficient time to hunt down all the
meeting Agendas but my attention has been drawn to the situation in Barnet. They
are reporting a Covid hit of £41 million. How does that happen? Are they
spending more because they have had a bigger Covid problem? Is that the gross
figure or net after government handouts? It is hard to explain an eleven times discrepancy.
London Councils estimates that Covid will have reduced income by £1,100,000,000
and cost £700,000,000. That is £1·8 billion. A crude average, that is divide by 32, makes it a staggering £56 million per borough.
Maybe Bexley has not been asking Boris for enough money?
Barnet Council