Budget shortfalls forced £15bn of public assets to be sold by English councils
Research by IPPA has found over 70,000 public assets in the country have been sold since 2010 due to budget gaps.
Yesterday figures from the thinktank discovered an estimated 6,000 council assets, such as libraries, youth clubs, swimming pools, and community centres, have been sold annually over the past 13 years. A change in the law in 2016 meant councils were no longer required to buy new public assets with money made from selling them and instead could use funds to make up shortfalls in funding.
This particular type of money-making method currently looks appealing to Birmingham City Council, who have recently issued a section 114 notice. The government is sending commissioners to take over the local authority in a bid to bridge budget gaps.
Against this backdrop, the IPPR is calling for fairer funding from central government to ensure areas that majorly need investment get it. Although recent news of inflation rates coming down has sparked positivity, years of financial loss caused by the pandemic and cost-of-living still require immediate attention.
Following this research, the IPPR is also asking for common good property registers to increase transparency of public asset ownership to help protect communities from frequent losses.
‘People have lost far too much over the last 13 years. Communities have lost billions worth of public land and buildings in their areas, local safety nets are crumbling all whilst government plays fast and loose with major regional infrastructure projects,’ said Zoe Billingham, director of IPPR Northland. ‘People want and deserve better than this.’
She added: ‘[People] want functioning public services, to receive a fair share of investment and to restore pride in their places Regional rebalancing must be reprioritised by central government and through the support of regional leaders who continue to champion the agenda locally.
‘It’s time to rewire the status quo so that wealth, power and opportunity can be accessed and shared by everyone, in the places they live.’
The research was completed through analysis of government data and statistics from a freedom of information request.
Image: Robert Linder
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