Eastbourne's finances are not as "on track" as Lib-Dem council leaders would like us to believe from the statement they issued earlier this week, that’s according to Conservatives on the borough council who maintain that the state of the council's finances still gives cause for concern.
"It's not surprising that the council issues something like this", says the Conservative's finance spokesman Cllr Kshama Shore OBE. "But the sad truth is that the town hall's finances remain perilous with low reserves and very high short-term debt. This situation simply can't be camouflaged as much as the Lib-Dems would like it to be."
The Conservatives point out that it is only generous Government support that has kept the council afloat. "It is just staggering how our council leaders continue to exaggerate the effect of Covid on the finances and ignore the vast array of Government support given, even listing such support as 'savings', adds Cllr Shore.
Following a correction to the analysis of the maturity of £160-million of debt he requested at the Scrutiny Committee this week, Cllr Robert Smart has highlighted the £46-million of short-term debt which will be required to be refinanced in the next 12 months.
