City Council needs £17.5m Government bailout loan to avoid bankruptcy
We’ve known for a while that Gloucester City Council has been facing financial challenges, but the local authority has now come clean about just how bad things have become.
Dear All,
Today’s main story broke last night and comes courtesy of the BBC local democracy reporter Carmelo Garcia.
The Raikes Journal is the only independent news outlet in Gloucestershire approved to use the copy of the BBC local government reporting service. Why? Only independent, credible journalistically-led platforms that meet the BBC’s high standards win that permission.
As Raikes continues to tick over with minimal editions as we make plans for 2026 it seemed to significant to ignore.
And it comes in the context of the move towards devolution for our county’s local authorities, further weakening the city’s hand in any negotiations about protecting its status.
Best regards,
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City Council needs £17.5m Government bailout loan to avoid bankruptcy
We’ve known for a while that Gloucester City Council has been facing financial challenges, but the local authority has now come clean about just how bad things have become.
By Carmelo Garcia.
Gloucester City Council needs a Government bailout loan of up to £17.5 million to avoid becoming effectively bankrupt.
The council#s cabinet is expected to approve submitting an exceptional financial support application at their meeting next week to ask for between £12.5m and £17.5m from ministers as a way to avoid issuing a section 114 notice.
Councils cannot technically go bankrupt but can issue a section 114 notice which means they would not be able to commit to any new spending.
Finance chiefs are understood to have been in talks with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about its dire financial situation for around a month. Achieving the loan would avoid the need for a section 114 notice to be issued.
Details of the full extent of the overspend have come to light as the council has caught up on getting its unaudited accounts from previous years checked by external auditors.
