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Thursday, November 27, 2008, 07:00
The Government has promised local authorities will not be forced to increase council tax in order to cover for the millions lost.
In October, when the financial crisis hit, the Scunthorpe Telegraph revealed the local council had lost £5.5-million of taxpayers' money.
The authority had £2-million invested with Landsbanki, one of the major financiers to go bust, and a further £3.5-million with its UK subsidiary, Heritable.
Until now, it was uncertain how the funds would be recovered, but Local Government Minister John Healey has now promised a 4.2 per cent funding increase to all local authorities.
Elliot Morley, MP for Scunthorpe, said: "I mentioned this in a meeting with the Iceland finance minister. I expressed my concern for local authorities, particularly North Lincolnshire– I don't want to see people suffer as a result of this," he said.
"I'm very pleased to see this come to fruition, it was important for authorities just to know where they stood.
"This was not the council's fault, the money had been invested sensibly."
For the full story, buy today's Scunthorpe Telegraph.
Well done Tony Blair! You knew just when to resign as Prime Minister, leaving Gordon Brown in the mess you created. However, Brown is not without criticism.The next election I will vote for the Monster Raving Loony Party.
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