When are service reductions not 'cuts' and when is a government bail out 'not a loan'?
Councillor Ade Adeyemo challenges the Conservatives on likely cuts to council services and the £48.273M government EFS bail out, without which #SolihullCouncil could not balance its books.
Solihull was one of 18 councils who applied for emergency government bailout agreements and were given Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) in February to stave off bankruptcy and help meet their legal duty to balance their books in the next two financial years (2025/26 and 2026/27).
Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) enables councils to take out loans to pay for day-to-day services. The government has said councils will not be able to dispose of community and heritage assets to repay the loans.
Liberal Democrats are concerned that EFS could load the struggling council with further debt and costs in the future and undermine future capital programmes.