Campaign group TaxPayers’ Alliance accuses local authorities of hoarding assets
Councils across the country are “hoarding assets,” a lobby group has claimed in a new report today.
New research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) found that council holdings as of last year include golf courses, restaurants, hotels, shopping centres, a cheese factory and a model railway, among other assets.
The TPA said local authorities own nearly 600 restaurants or cafes, including just under 400 pubs. Councils also own 174 hotels, just over 2,500 farms, and almost 8,000 shops. The campaign group also pointed to two surprising examples in Bristol and Harlow, where local authorities own nightclubs.
“What possible business does a council have owning a nightclub?” TPA chief executive Jonathan Isaby said, adding: “It looks deeply hypocritical for councils to plead poverty as an excuse for hiking council tax when they’ve got such a huge asset portfolio.”
Responding to the report, communities and local government secretary Greg Clark said that taxpayers have a right to know how their contributions are being spent, while local authorities “must keep council tax down and efficiently manage their assets to ensure local taxpayers’ money is delivering value for money and the services local people want to see”.