Capital £730m in debt

CARDIFF council is more than £730m in debt as its borrowings continue to rise. The council’s total borrowings grew by around £30m over the past year as the local authority sought cash to bankroll major projects.

It means the council’s current debt of £731.006m is worth more than £2,000 for every man, woman and child in Cardiff.

And the council is set to borrow even more to pay for projects such as new schools, cycleways and affordable homes.

Conservative councillor Joel Williams has said he was told by a council officer the authority would have to pay back £1.077bn on its existing loans, factoring in interest, if repayments continue at existing rates and durations.

He said: “That’s a lot of money. It’s going to put additional pressure on revenue budgets in the future.

“It’s important this administration picks up on that and learns from the mistakes from the past so we don’t repeat them in the future.”

Cardiff council’s borrowing as of March 31 included:

■ £669,314,000 from the Public Works Loans Board, which is part of the UK Treasury;

■ £51,637,000 from long-term loans from banks; and

■ £10,055,000 from the Welsh Government.

The council said no borrowing is used to fund its day-to-day spending.

Labour councillor Chris Weaver, cabinet member for finance, said at the meeting the council takes the issue of borrowing very seriously.

He said: “When the council borrows money we are borrowing to invest in our assets. This is money being spent on building council houses, on rebuilding schools, on repairing roads.

“Unlike the UK government, local authorities do not borrow for day-today spending. We set a balanced budget every year.

“We are very mindful of every penny we borrow. We do believe this city deserves investment. We will borrow prudently to build our council houses, to rebuild our schools and to deliver the things the people of Cardiff want.”