A ‘cash-strapped’ local authority is being urged to come clean over loans it has made to other councils over the last four years.
The call comes after South Lakeland District Council revealed in a Freedom of Information reply that it has made 10 loans to other local authorities from 2013/14 to 2018/19.
Now the council is being called on to provide information on the amounts being loaned, the rates of interest being charged, and the identity of the local authorities receiving South Lakeland council taxpayers’ cash.
Councillor Tom Harvey, the deputy leader of the council’s Conservative group, said: “Residents quite rightly expect money they have paid in council tax to be used for services in South Lakeland, not bailing out other councils in the rest of the UK.
“The council is playing banker instead of starting to fix the problems that residents in South Lakeland are facing. Local residents deserve to know precisely how much of their money is being loaned to other councils and where.”
In response to a Freedom of Information request, South Lakeland District Council provided the following information on the number of loans it has made to other local authorities:
Financial year Number of loans made
2013/14 2
2014/15 3
2016/17 4
2018/19 1
