Fears ‘family silver’ could be sold as part of council debt plan

HERE are serious concerns Gloucester City Council could sell off the “family silver” as part of a recovery plan to avoid becoming bankrupt.

- Carmelo GARCIA Local Democracy Reporter

City Council chiefs are expected to ask the Government for a bailout loan of between £12.5m and £17.5m later this month.

If approved, the exceptional financial support package would be used to cover the £7.8m overspend discovered over the last and current financial years and be used to stabilise the authority's funding.

Councils cannot technically go bankrupt but can issue a section 114 notice which means they would not be able to commit to any new spending.

However, the City Council's revised budget for last year shows they were actually facing an estimated overspend of £4.3m for 2024/25.

And figures for the council's current budget are predicting an overspend of £2.5m for the rest of 2025/26.

Without the emergency loan, its chief financial officer would have to issue a section 114 notice as the council would not be able to set a balanced budget for the next financial year.

The council's extensive commercial property portfolio which includes St Oswalds Retail Park and Eastgate Shopping Centre, which they own, and King’s Walk, which they lease, is expected to make £1.78m less than expected.