"Dire" debts across Yorkshire as Hull City Council over a half a billion pounds out of pocket
The government is facing criticism over its funding for local authorities.
Last updated 16th Jan 2024
According to new figures, Hull City Council is in £585m of debt, equivalent to £2,197 for every person in Hull.
Tony Pearson, Unison Yorkshire branch said: "Really nothing has ever approached the situation we've got at the moment, the void the councils in Yorkshire and Humberside are saying they need to fill to provide the current level of service is something like £350m
"This really, really is dire, and what we're seeing that is meaning for councils is they're having to sell off buildings, selling off land, in addition to starting to cut essential services.
"We're getting to the bone now"
Hull ranks as the 56th-worst local authority for levels of debt per person, while Woking topped the chart with £18,756 per person. Leeds has £2.25bn of debt, only behind the £2.95bn debt carried by Birmingham City Council which declared itself bankrupt at the end of 2022.
The overall debt accrued across the United Kingdom's councils totals £122bn.
A government spokesperson said: “Councils are ultimately responsible for their own finances, but we are very clear they should not put taxpayers' money at risk by taking on excessive debt."
Mr Pearson said: "We've seen cuts for the best part of the last 14 years to council services but I think we're really getting to the bone now and we really do need an alternative way of funding local government."
Hull City Council responded:
"“Hull City Council, in common with other local authorities, borrows money in order to fund investment in assets including roads, pathways, bridges, libraries, museums, theatres, leisure facilities, and Council offices, to maintain the city’s infrastructure and ensure services can be delivered to residents."
"In addition, Hull City Council owns around 25-thousand Council houses, which also require borrowing to fund investment."
"Many other local authorities no longer maintain their own housing stock, which will impact on debt statistics.”