Around 2018, the press reported on the potential bankruptcy of Northamptonshire Council which the Guardian referred to as “a model of Tory ideology”. The Guardian report said that the authority was likely to sell its new £53m headquarters and that there might be a fire sale of assets to keep the council afloat. In the end, I think that the HQ was sold for more than £53m and the council was given permission by central government, to spend the money on day to day expenditure. Wolverhampton City Council has been asked what assets could be sold and what assets would be sold, in order to prevent Wolverhampton going the same way ? One major asset which springs to mind is the Civic Hall, which seems to be putting a strain on the Council's finances. The Civic Hall is a grade 2 listed building which is currently undergoing refurbishment. It is understood the project will be completed 5 years late and 4 x over budget. A recent estimated refurbishment cost was £38.1m https://www.expressa

I get the impression that local councils usually complain that they have been starved of funds by central government. Maybe they forget that both local and central government raise money from the same taxpayers. In the end ..we all pay.. for everything. If local or central government does not collect enough tax or other income, then it has to borrow, which pushes the debt problem onto future generations. It would be interesting to know what discussions or negotiations have taken place between Wolverhampton City Council and central government as to how much tax is collected by each of them, how much each then has to borrow and how much of the Wolverhampton City Council's budget is then subsidised by central government. One political squabble was recently reported in the local media: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/politics/2020/01/20/pay-up-and-deliver-wolverhampton-council-leader-challenges-mayor-andy-street/