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News and Comment November 2020

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13 November (Part 2) - Financial Armageddon looms

There was one item towards the end of last week’s Full Council meeting that should not be allowed to pass unrecorded. Labour Councillor Nicola Taylor’s attack upon the record of BexleyCo, the Council owned company set up to make loadsamoney from building loadsahouses.

Erith’s Councillor said both political parties were concerned about the Auditor’s report on the Council’s finances, it “made for distressing reading”. The report said that “insufficient arrangements were in place to close the budget gap and insufficient plans for financial resilience”. There would need to be “unplanned service changes. This will be an issue that affects us all.”

“Members on the night raised concerns that reserves had travelled in the wrong direction from £60 million in 2018 to £37 million [at the end of the 2019/20 financial year] and even lower now.”

“The Audit identified weaknesses in arrangements for planning finances, it is clear our reserves have been plundered. Evidence of poor financial decisions. Outsourcing has caused poor quality services and increased costs. The lack of a Social Housing programme with the resultant waiting on housing lists for years and years and overspends on housing for three years running. It points to carelessness and incompetence. BexleyCo lost 0·6 million for the second year running and to date not one single house has been built. You {the Conservatives] said Bexley was safe in your hands, this Audit report says not.”

The Labour Leader referred to the lack of Scrutiny by Councillors on the relevant Committees.

Cabinet Member David Leaf appeared to be more subdued than usual saying only that it was a draft Auditor’s report and Labour reduced the reserves to £5·6 million in 2006 and Councillor Leaf added that an example of the Council’s salvation was the million pounds per year raised by the Garden Waste charges which Labour opposed and which was typical of their poor planning. He wasn’t going to take lessons from Labour.
Labour

Hollow words now!

A lame response as some of my worried correspondents might agree.


Croydon overspending and no money in the bank. Bankrupt. Bexley overspending. Little money in the bank. Asking to borrow.…
But if it can’t? What next? Someone help. Find out next week at Cabinet. How did Bexley end up here in two years?
Was there financial mismanagement and a poor Chief or is it simply Covid? The auditors said the housing crisis was due to a lack of oversight. The Finance Director agreed. He was totally unaware of a £2 million hole. But is ignorance a defence?


And another…


The front page of the papers are covered with housing overspend. Buried in the latest Council report is the housing overspend. Nearly £5 million, and about half not explained by Covid. So the Auditors and the Labour members should ask where is the housing improvement plan.
Is this basically to add over £2 million to the budget so that it catches up with what we spend? Had this been dealt with years ago, the budget gap would have been £4 million less, two for last year, two for this year. And 150 employees would not be losing their jobs, it would have been more like 50. Failure by Bexley managers has cost people their livelihoods and for us residents loss of services for our children, our parents and our community.

 

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