Council Accounts Contaminated by Toxic Debt

Objections to the Council 's last accounts has meant that the Council's auditors have not signed off on its last accounts.

The concern is the borrowing by the last Lib Dem led County Council of £396m. The so called 'LOBO' debt has such toxic terms that the debt may even be ultra vires (ie. illegal). If sustained the objection would be good news, hopefully, as these borrowings could not be enforced by the banks and they could be refinanced without toxic terms.

But the Indy/Lib Dem administration does not even want to acknowledge that this is happening. It was discussed at Audit Committee last September but is not in the minutes.  It was discussed at Full Council on 21st Feb.  Again, not in the Minutes.

The Council is  trying to hide behind the statement that no one is saying the numbers in the accounts are inaccurate.  No, the National Audit Office are being asked to consider whether the Council has entered into £396m of debt whose terms were so toxic the debt might be illegal.  Channel 4 did an independent investigation on this.   Channel 4 Dispatches 

The Council hide behind the fact that 23 other Councils are also affected but refuse to acknowledge that this Council has the 2nd biggest portfolio in the country of this toxic debt  (after the London Borough of Newham ).

 The crux of it is that the Lib Dem/Indy administration is more interested in covering up its mistakes than in trying to get the Council released from a mountain of toxic debt that will otherwise hang over Cornwall for 50 plus years.