THE council leader has refuted claims the Labour-run authority asked to be given a ‘blank cheque’ to continue its raid into the property market.

The council’s £139.97 million budget for 2020-21 was approved at the full council meeting on Monday.

The strategic property investment programme for 2020-21 is estimated at £630 million, with it being projected to amount to £11.37 million the following year.

The council’s acquisitions include the £211 million deal to buy Birchwood Park, an Asda site in Manchester, Tesco stores in Bolton and Widnes, Eddie Stobart’s headquarters at Stretton Green Distribution Park and DW Sports in the town centre.

The Liberal Democrats voted against the budget on Monday.

During the meeting, Cllr Brian Axcell (LD – Appleton) said: “We are being asked to vote for a budget where a capital investment of £630 million is going to be spent on property, with no idea really what that is going to involve.

“We are being asked to give the administration a blank cheque – and I can’t vote for it.”

Shortly after, council leader Cllr Russ Bowden (LAB – Birchwood) labelled the authority’s investment programme as ambitious.

He told members investments are not speculative and any risks are ‘well judged’ before confirming plenty of deals have been turned down.

Cllr Bowden added: “I shudder to think where we would be if we hadn’t made some of those tough decisions around investments, and what state this council would be in, and what level of service there would be for residents in this town.”

Town Hall chiefs say surplus income from property investments, through rent that the council receives, can be spent on key services amid budget cuts.

Warrington Guardian:

Town Hall

The council failed to sign off its 2017-18 accounts before the deadline of July 31 in 2018 due to a valid objection questioning whether its investment into Redwood Bank was legal.

It has paid around £30 million to buy a 33 per cent share in it.

Cllr Bowden said the council has been incredibly patient with auditor Grant Thornton over the issue and that he expects to see the situation resolved in March.

He added that he has seen the draft findings regarding public objection and is absolutely confident the council will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

The authority has also received an objection to its 2018-19 accounts from retired accountant Richard Buttrey.

They will not be able to be signed off until the previous year’s accounts are done.

Mr Buttrey said: “The council have in the past chosen to value their £30 million investment in Redwood Bank at cost despite the bank making a cumulative loss of £7.5 million.

“Traditionally, assets have been valued at the lower of cost or realisable value and since the shareholders agreement between the council and Redwood Bank sets out a method for valuing shares when the council want to sell them, it seems to me that this should be the method they use.”

Mr Buttrey has asked the council to use the shareholders agreement method when it publishes its 2019-2020 accounts.

“It’s perhaps not surprising that the council are reluctant to use a method which reflects the actual Redwood losses since it would show the council’s investment was worth a lot less than they have paid,” he said.

The council did not wish to comment.