Leader says advice from ‘maniacs’ not needed to cut debt

Dudley Council’s leader says the authority does not need lessons on saving cash from ‘maniacs’ after a fall in borrowing.

The authority’s level of borrowing per head of population fell by £120 to put it among around a third of local councils with falling debt.

The statistics, published by the BBC’s Shared Data Unit, show in the final quarter of the last financial year Dudley’s total borrowing was £662.4m, down by £39.2m on the same period in the previous year.

The figures mean the council had debts of £2,027 per person, £120 less than in Q4 2023/24.

Dudley Council leader, Clr Patrick Harley, said: “This shows our continued financial recovery; less debt means less interest to pay – if you borrow less you save money.”

He added some people had been ‘jumping up and down’ complaining about the council’s financial position and took a swipe at the extreme DOGE-style public sector cuts by Elon Musk supported by Reform UK.

Cllr Harley said: “We don’t need a maniac in a baseball hat with a chainsaw to show us how to save money.

“We have done spectacularly with adult social care, we seem to have a grip on that and I can’t thank the team enough for their efforts.”

The BBC research, based on government data, shows 37 percent of councils reduced their debt including Dudley and also cash-strapped Birmingham, which cut borrowing per head by £126 to £2,875.

Other nearby councils were among the 49 percent of authorities which saw an increase.

Sandwell’s per person figure was up £12.60to £1,270, Walsall council borrowed £194 per person more (£1,044) while Wolverhampton’s overall debt went up by £378 per person to £3,227 per head.

Taking England as a whole, council borrowing per head was up by £95 per person to £1,668 with Woking topping the chart at an eye-watering £20,601 per person.

The highest council comparable to Dudley, the metropolitan district of South Tyneside, borrowed £4,947 per person in the final quarter of 24/25.

The government is facing calls for reform of the funding system for local government.

Jonathan Carr-West of the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) said spiralling levels of debt at local authorities was “extremely worrying”.

He said: “That is not a sustainable system. As one local government finance officer said to me, it’s essentially payday loans for local governments. 

“I don’t think the government would say that’s it’s long-term ambition. They would say that is what we have had to do to paper over the cracks while we introduce a new funding system for local government.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “While councils are responsible for managing their own budgets, we know that the current funding system is broken which is why we are taking decisive action so local leaders can deliver the public services their communities rely on. 

“We have announced over £3.4 billion of new grant funding for local services on top of the £69 billion already made available this year to boost council finances, and we will go further to reform the funding system, including at new unitary councils, to ensure it is fit for the future.”