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Councils 'ignored Iceland risks'
Comments
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Councils have reserves for all sorts of reasons."An arrogant and self-righteous Guardian reading tvv@t".
!!!!!! is all that about?0 -
robin_banks wrote: »Councils have reserves for all sorts of reasons.
Not now they don't (well a lot of them anyway).
Imprudence means a return to the taxpayer for another handout.
Has anyone been sacked for this gross mismanagement ?0 -
Councils send out CT bills - many people pay monthly, but some, like me, pay in a lump sum. Since they get a proportion as a lump sum (+ any central govt. grants which will come in as a lump sum) & many (most?) of their outgoings are monthly they will have a vast amount of money waiting to be spent at the beginning of the year which should dwindle to zero by the end of the financial year.itsnever2lateisit? wrote: »As Local Authorities they had no FSCS cover anyway. But, for me, it throws up a different question, Why the hell do councils have such vast amounts of money? It can only mean that they have overcharged council tax
Personally I'd like to see councils & the govt. running up reserves - I save to cover me for special circumstances, we would all be in a damn-sight better position if both HM Govt. & the councils had done the same.
I suppose there's no reason why, in principle, a council, like a person, could not run up sufficient reserves that it could live off the interest & would not need to charge council tax. However, I think in practice that would be unlikely."Mrs. Pench, you've won the car contest, would you like a triumph spitfire or 3000 in cash?" He smiled.
Mrs. Pench took the money. "What will you do with it all? Not that it's any of my business," he giggled.
"I think I'll become an alcoholic," said Betty.0 -
itsnever2lateisit? wrote: »As Local Authorities they had no FSCS cover anyway. But, for me, it throws up a different question, Why the hell do councils have such vast amounts of money? It can only mean that they have overcharged council tax
So when deficits are run, that's bad, and when surpluses are run, that's bad! Sheesh - you can't have it both ways!
Of course councils have to have reserves! !!!!!!!Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable. J. K. Galbraith0 -
Councils are mainly funded by 'block grants' from central govt, payable in advance.
Business Rates are also likely to be paid in advance as will rents on business units a council may own, so it's not uncommon esp for larger authorities to build up reserves, and they could do so quickly.
Councils surely then have a duty to invest this money and get the best return avialable, at the time Icesave did offer attractive rates.
A number of councils both Labour & Conservative have invested in Icelandic banks."An arrogant and self-righteous Guardian reading tvv@t".
!!!!!! is all that about?0 -
</p>robin_banks wrote: »Councils are mainly funded by 'block grants' from central govt, payable in advance.
Spot on.
Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable. J. K. Galbraith0 -
Old_Slaphead wrote: »Not now they don't (well a lot of them anyway).
Imprudence means a return to the taxpayer for another handout.
Has anyone been sacked for this gross mismanagement ?
Actually, even those that lost money are unlikely to have lost that much, most will have had their money stashed across several banks.
The real gross mismanagement is within the banks: NRK, B&B, A&L, HBOS, LTSB (for buying HBOS), RBS, Landsbanki; various building societies; the FSA (& its Icelandic equivalent); the ratings agencies; the BoE; HM. Govt (& its Icelandic equivalent); the Treasury - the people who are there to advise councils (& others like the NAO) where to put their money & those who are supposed to look after it safely. Not some poor sod for whom a very small part of their job is to try to get the best interest rate available to save the CT payers a few pennies."Mrs. Pench, you've won the car contest, would you like a triumph spitfire or 3000 in cash?" He smiled.
Mrs. Pench took the money. "What will you do with it all? Not that it's any of my business," he giggled.
"I think I'll become an alcoholic," said Betty.0 -
Guy_Montag wrote: »Actually, even those that lost money are unlikely to have lost that much, most will have had their money stashed across several banks.
The real gross mismanagement is within the banks: NRK, B&B, A&L, HBOS, LTSB (for buying HBOS), RBS, Landsbanki; various building societies; the FSA (& its Icelandic equivalent); the ratings agencies; the BoE; HM. Govt (& its Icelandic equivalent); the Treasury - the people who are there to advise councils (& others like the NAO) where to put their money & those who are supposed to look after it safely. Not some poor sod for whom a very small part of their job is to try to get the best interest rate available to save the CT payers a few pennies.
Unfortunately my local authority happened to have had £42million invested in Icelandic banks which was 20% of it's assets.
Seems to me an imprudently large amount given that for several months these institutions have been cited as being towards the riskier end of the spectrum.0 -
20% in 'higher risk' investments seems reasonable in a (hate to use the word) portfolio."An arrogant and self-righteous Guardian reading tvv@t".
!!!!!! is all that about?0 -
Looking for the credit rating history I came up with this, that amused me:
From May 07HBOS plc Aa2
Halifax plc Aa2
Bank of Scotland Aa2
HSBC Bank plc Aa1
The Royal Bank of Scotland Aaa
National Westminster Bank Plc Aaa
Ulster Bank Ltd Aa2
ICICI Bank Limited Baa2
(Landsbanki Islands hf) ICESAVE Aaa
It looks like HBOS/Halifax/BOS are the safest
ICICI Bank comes out the worst with Baa2
Am I right in thinking ICICI is one of the few banks that have not needed a bail out because the Indian govt. wouldn't let them dabble in 5hit?"Mrs. Pench, you've won the car contest, would you like a triumph spitfire or 3000 in cash?" He smiled.
Mrs. Pench took the money. "What will you do with it all? Not that it's any of my business," he giggled.
"I think I'll become an alcoholic," said Betty.0
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