A little bit of context
Over the last five years, councils have seen their funding cut by nearly half. This has resulted in massive cuts in public services, such as community centres and libraries, housing, social care and children’s services.
Debt Resistance UK have discovered something councils have not stopped paying for – that’s interest to big banks that mis-sold them dodgy loans.
These are called #LOBOloans and their interest rates are as high as 7-10%. Some councils interest payments cost the equivalent of 80% of council tax income!
Here’s what we’re doing about it
We believe councils shouldn’t be gambling with our money, or wasting funds that should be going to run important local services.
Residents have a powerful tool on their side: the right to object to irrational local government expenditures and ask for dubious spending to be deemed unlawful.
Last year, we supported local residents in 18 councils to object to LOBO loans. This year we want to at least double that number… But we need your help!
You can join us
We’re asking you to chip in to fund a campaigner to support residents who want to file objections.
The campaigner’s job will be to help the objectors obtain and understand the information they need to support their case, guide them through the bureaucracy of the council procedures, and be available to assist should the council or auditor ask further questions. Up to now we have done this on a voluntary basis, but that’s not sustainable. By hiring a part-time campaigner we want to guarantee continuity to the growing campaign and increase public pressure.
To do this, Debt Resistance UK has teamed up with the Co-operative Research for Action to develop the research and campaign together and to make it even more effective.
Can you chip in to help us reclaim public finances from the clutches of the financial sector and put money back into essential local services?