Slough Borough Council has managed to “virtually halve” its £406m outstanding temporary borrowing through its asset disposal programme, according to a report.
An Asset Disposal Update report detailed that, to date, the council’s asset disposal programme has generated capital receipts of £172.7m. It also estimated that sales currently in the pipeline, plus repayments of loans to third parties, would take the total to more than £210m by 31 March 2023.
The report stated that through the capital receipts generated from the asset disposals, the “council has been able to repay a substantial amount of temporary borrowing”.
“Temporary borrowing was £218m at 31 December 2022, which was virtually half the £406m outstanding at 31 December 2021,” the report said.
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It also detailed that the impact of interest charges on the borrowing has been “largely neutral”. This is due to the increases in interest on the remaining temporary loans matching the interest savings from repaying the borrowing.
Asset sales are part of the government intervention in Slough following the financial collapse of the council, which led Steven Mair, director of finance, to issue a section 114 notice.
The report points out that as a result of the progress made in Slough’s asset disposal programme, the council will achieve “its original target to generate £200m of capital receipts by 1 April 2024, 12 months earlier than expected”.
The report will be presented to Slough’s Cabinet Committee, Asset Disposals, on 16 March.
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