The Isle of Wight Council’s total debt has increased by £862,000 over the past year, according to newly released national figures.
Data compiled for the 2024-2025 financial year shows that the Council’s total debt stood at £182.4million at the end of Q4 2024-25, up from £181.6million the previous year. This marks a modest rise of 0.47%.
The figures also reveal that the total debt per person on the Isle of Wight increased by £6.12 year-on-year, from £1,288.46 to £1,294.58.
In contrast to some local authorities in England that recorded large increases in borrowing, the Isle of Wight’s rise is minimal. Councils such as Woking and Thurrock have seen significant borrowing pressures in recent years, leading to government intervention. The Isle of Wight Council remains far below such levels of debt.
The data comes as part of a UK-wide analysis of council borrowing levels across Scotland, Wales, and England.
The Isle of Wight is classified as a unitary authority, meaning it is responsible for all local government services in the area. Its financial position is often closely monitored due to the unique challenges of providing services in a geographically isolated setting.
Report compiled by the BBC Local Data Unit
No problem, just do what a local well know double glazing firm has done twice, declare yourself bankrupt, write off all your debt, rename yourself with a very similar name and start again, easy peasy.
So many rogue organisations out there.
Staff pension contributions account for a further 23pc of revenues on average.
Cannot understand why this is allowed to happen. Surely when new staff are recruited this gold plated pension should not be included in there package. It is insulting to council tax payers that on average not far short of £500 per month of our payments are stolen
Tax payers are being taken for a ride, no wonder
they keep increasing our council tax.
They do fcuk all for what we pay them apart from
empty our bins, we pay extra to have our green waste
taken away, we have to pay to have a p*ss, and if walking the
dog along the prom, we have to pay £2 for the privilege.
I would sack half the work force, they are not needed.
They spend over a million a year on taxis for SEN kids to go to school – make the parent pay.
they spend a stupid amount of money on ukraine refugees, asylum seekers and asylum support – as evidenced in the councils own expenditure on their website.
cut all that waste out and voila – back in credit
At the same time, cut the Council Tax Support, Pension Credit, Housing benefit and any Household Support Fund payments to pensioners, not forgetting taking any bus passes. I will let you know if I can find further cuts to vulnerable sections of our society.
I totally forgot, Adult Social care. Ban council payments to nursing homes and care providers. If you or your family cant afford it, you’re on your own. Will that do you, or is it just vulnerable children you have issues with?
As does every single council in the country, because they have a statutory duty. You can’t penalise parents for having disabled children in rural communities who would not otherwise be able to attend school. Don’t be a plum.
And we currently do not spend a single penny on asylum seekers. The Ukranians were first hosted privately as a matter of urgency, then our council were given £2m in governments grants to set them up in rented homes…which they now pay for themselves.
Anything else you clearly didn’t know, but should?
yes we can – we don’t want to spend out on taxis for other peoples kids – the parents should pay. Not my kid, not my problem.
There are no asylum seekers o the Island. Get your facts right
It has always been and will continue to be the case that when “government”, national, local or even the utterly useless Town & Parish “Councils” have our money to spend, they will spend it and then, like Oliver Twist, ask for more. Only there will be no “Please” involved, they will just spend even more and hike every “tax” up so they can plead poverty instead of incompetence.
Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer, Phil Jordan and Shalfleet and Ventnor TCs are the same version of Dick Turpin with a different mask. More fool us for putting up with it
I could not have said it better myself.
Enough is Enough
Easy solution.
No.1 Stop vehicles parking on pavements in Sandown
FREE OF CHARGE.
No.2 Rollout islandwide permit parking, let’s face it there are
too many vehicles clogging up roads and streets.
No.3 Reduce your workforce, how many employees are still
shirking from home, they are no longer required, make
better use of A.I.
If you knew anything at all about anything at all you’d understand that everyone who works from home does so via computer. Any time NOT using that computer is logged. No shirking allowed, indeed far less than used to be allowed in offices that needed heating, lighting and managing from the pot of council money you so begrudge.
And when they do make better use of AI there are going to be millions more unemployed….including those who wrote the damned code in the first place.
Those left in employment (go on, try to think of any job that AI couldn’t do…) will therefore be forced to pay more in taxes to offset the non tax-payers. And those non tax-payers will also suffer many more cuts in pensions, healthcare….
First thing to do is offload all the commercial acquisitions which are numerous, that would reduce the debt and the subsquant debt repayments, councillors and council officials have to stop playing monopoly with our money, repeat, our money. You all work in one capacity or another for the council because you do not have the acumen or expertise to cut it in the private sector where you are expected to make a profit or be shown the door.
Correct.
The big question is exactly HOW? Filtering it off to buy mainland assets, pension pot, jerk jordans drinks cabinet must be pretty full then now. FOI requests need to go in. Most corrupt council in the UK and always has been.
This much in debt yet they can find money for £500,000+ for a chat with consultants and still find more money to offload to charity.
Charity should start at home, my home. How about some help with my leaking roof!!!!