Council considers bonds to raise cash

ABERDEEN City Council is considering issuing bonds as an innovative way to raise extra cash, its leader said.

The Labour-led administration is the first local authority in Scotland to look at the measure, but leader Jenny Laing claimed it is the lowest funded council in the country.

Councils rely on the Scottish Government for the bulk of their budget, with local authority chiefs complaining pressures on public spending have hit them hard.

The credit ratings agency Moody’s has awarded Aberdeen City Council an AA2 rating.

Ms Laing told Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “We have great ambitions for the city of Aberdeen and we want to maintain the economic growth we have seen over recent decades.

“To do that we need to invest in infrastructure and I think we have proved as the lowest funded council in Scotland we are always looking for innovative ways in which we can make sure we can secure that revenue.

“We’ve entered into a process which may lead to us issuing bonds, but we want to make sure we protect our budgets and the services the people of Aberdeen rely on as we move forward.”

Ms Laing added: “Applying for the credit rating was also about us demonstrating to the outside world just how secure a financial footing Aberdeen is on.

“It’s not all that long ago, you only have to go back seven or eight years, when budgets in Aberdeen were out of control.

“I think the credit rating we have been awarded proves we have moved significantly forward.” Pictures from our archive