East Lindsey council takes out £20m loan

East Lindsey District Council will borrow £20 million in order to fund major projects in the region.

Following an agreement at a recent full council meeting, members of the authority agreed in principle to take out the loan over a 50 year period.

The money will be borrowed from the Public Works Loans Board and will be used to fund the council’s capital programme.

The authority said that it needs to identify different investment opportunities in order to deliver its projects.

A spokesperson for East Lindsey District Council said: “With ongoing funding reductions placing pressure on the provision of local services, the council will be looking to identify commercial investment opportunities that generate additional income streams to help fund services.

“However, at the moment we have not yet undertaken any expenditure to acquire suitable assets and as such have yet to actually borrow any money.”

Cuts to local authority funding have left council’s looking for other avenues of income.

East Lindsey District Council have joined the government’s business rates retention pilot scheme as well as increasing its council tax by 3.75%.

However, the council will see a reduction in its revenue support grant over the coming years as part of the business rates pilot.

The move comes as local authorities across Lincolnshire are looking at different ways to balance the books.

West Lindsey District Council recently spent more than £2 million on a hotel in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in an effort to generate further income.

Meanwhile, City of Lincoln Council made a similar purchase for a hotel on the city’s Tentecroft Street which it said would raise funds to help to maintain key services.