Ipswich Labour have increased the council’s borrowing limit to £350 million, at a potential future annual interest cost of £10 million per year. This means that Labour will have plunged every person in Ipswich including kids to be potentially liable for the debts of the council of around £2600 each, with interest £74 added every year.
Despite intense questioning by the Conservative Group at the Borough Council, the Labour party has refused to spell out exactly what plans or projects they intend to spend this money on, except to indicate it may be re-lent to the council’s recently established own trading companies. They did not deny that they could come back for more borrowing next year.
If they plan to buy up lots of properties in Ipswich or build new, it is all being done under a cloud of secrecy by the Labour administration. This could have the potential effect of disrupting the natural property market in Ipswich and cause unstable market inflation.
Our Conservative councillors believe in spending the money of Ipswich residents wisely. Our concern is that any proposed income generated via such commercial arrangements could go horribly wrong, and Ipswich council tax payers end up footing the repayment & interest bill, causing essential public services to be reduced just to meet repayment obligations. So Ipswich would have its own financial crisis because of Labour’s secrecy.
We are not against investing to generate income for the council, but Labour have decided to borrow this money in a short space of time, with no scrutiny and no transparency for residents and their elected councillors.