Inquiry launched into LOBOtomy of UK Local Government finance
Billions of pounds of taxpayer money is ultimately at stake, and it is only right that Parliament scrutinises public sector borrowing from criminal City of London banks, and removes conflicts of interest with the unregulated financial advisors that recommend LOBO loans whilst accepting millions in undeclared kickback payments from banks and brokers.
Responding to news of the DCLG inquiry Jamie Griffiths a campaigner with Debt Resistance UK said:
“LOBO loans present terrible value for taxpayers despite arguments to the contrary. By extending the life of the loan and giving up the ability to repay when interest rates are low councils end up paying significantly greater sums in interest than they would by borrowing from central government. While so-called ‘independent’ auditors look the other way, taxes collected by councils end up paying not for essential services but to feather the nests of bankers, brokers and advisors.”
Debt Resistance UK (DRUK) have serious reservations about the possible scope of the CLG inquiry and the limits of the Parliamentary Committee process to effect regulatory change.
DRUK insist the inquiry should occur in parallel with citizen pressure on local authorities and much needed regulatory enforcement action by The FCA and SFO.
Already City lapdog The FCA are seeking to distance themselves from responsibility for this fiasco, despite being directed to investigate Treasury Management Advisors by DCLG in 2009, yet refusing to do so.
Time and time again, The FCA which was rebranded from the toxic FSA in 2013, and funded exclusively by the banks and financial firms they are supposed to regulated has failed UK citizens.
That the enforcement regime of The FCA is completely unfit for purpose just 2 years after a major rebrand should come as no surprise for MP’s on Public Commission on Banking Standards, which noted fundamental flaws in the FCA’s enforcement regime back in 2013.
Ludovica Rogers from Debt Resistance UK said:
“We welcome news of the inquiry, but we have little faith that it will deliver the required regulatory and structural change. DRUK is calling for a UK wide audit of Local Authority debts, a thorough regulatory investigation into the systemic abuse of Local Authority finance by the financial sector and where appropriate legal and enforcement action.
We call on people and local grass-roots groups to join the campaign and start organising their own local action group. We need a localised decentralised campaign spread across the country run by citizens for citizens.
This is not a campaign against Local Government. It is a campaign to reclaim our democratic institutions from the clutches of the financial sector. We need to keep the pressure up and insist that our Local Authorities are run in the interest of their citizens and not the interests of the City of London.”
Debt Resistance UK intend to submit FOI evidence to CLG Committee examining LOBO loans, but as yet have not been called to submit information.
Debt Resistance UK are hosting an open public meeting 6:30pm 16 July at Goldsmiths University London for citizens wanting to learn more about Local Authority Debt Audits.
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