Posted inCitizen Debt Audit Publications

LOBO LOANS: a citizen audit of local authority debt

Over 200 councils across the country have taken out Lender Option Borrower Option (LOBO) loans. As a result, millions are flowing into the financial sector from austerity-ravaged local authorities. This pocket-sized booklet tells you all you need to know about this scandal to take action in your community. It gives the context of local government finance, explains LOBO loans and the conflict of interest and lack of oversight that allowed the scandal to happen, and what you can do to take action against illegitimate LOBO debt. You can download it below, or if you want copies to distribute locally, get... [continues]
April Newsletter: councils exit RBS LOBO loans
Posted inNewsletters

April Newsletter: councils exit RBS LOBO loans

Dear friends of Research for Action, Here are our latest news! We have a busy April coming up full of events and great news to share about banks winding down LOBO loans. If you'd like to receive our newsletter in your inbox you can subscribe here. IN THE NEWS RBS restructures LOBO loans In March, the Guardian reported that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is working to wind down its LOBO loan portfolio worth £1bn, by the end of the year. It is allowing councils to exit their loans early, sometimes even offering discounts. Most councils are paying back the loans... [continues]
Seven councils sue Barclays over LOBO loans and LIBOR rigging
Posted inCitizen Debt Audit

Seven councils sue Barclays over LOBO loans and LIBOR rigging

Seven councils are suing Barclays over LOBO loans the bank sold them in years 2005 to 2008. The loans’ interest rates were pegged to LIBOR, a benchmark rate set by a group of London banks, including Barclays. In 2012 it emerged the banks had been manipulating the rate, and Barclays was fined £290m. The local authorities – Leeds, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Newcastle, North East Lincolnshire, Nottingham, Oldham and Sheffield – allege that due to Barclays’ role in the rate rigging, the banks knew customers would rely on LIBOR rates when deciding whether to enter into contracts. The councils are... [continues]
Councils missing out on £16bn in interest savings by refinancing LOBO loans via Government
Posted inCitizen Debt Audit

Councils missing out on £16bn in interest savings by refinancing LOBO loans via Government

Earlier this month, Kent County Council and bankrupt Northamptonshire County Council announced they were refinancing LOBO loans taken out from state-owned RBS. Kent County Council refinanced LOBO loans worth £60m at around 4.2% interest, mostly with a loan from the government’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) at 2.21% interest. Northamptonshire County Council did the same for a £20 million LOBO loan. LOBOs are expensive long-term loans we consider illegitimate for reasons outlined in chapter 5 in our recent report on the citizen debt audit in the London borough of Newham. Following the announcement of loan refinancing savings, we conducted an... [continues]
Video: Experiences of Debt Audits in Europe since 2011
Posted inCitizen Debt Audit

Video: Experiences of Debt Audits in Europe since 2011

Ten years from the financial crisis, cuts and privatisation of public services have become the new normal. Yet public sector funds are often constrained by debt repayments that have priority over everything else. This is why we need to start to ask questions: In whose interests have financial decisions been made? Who has benefitted from them, and who has paid for them? What power dynamics in society have they reinforced? A debt audit is a tool for democratising financial decision-making. Questioning the legitimacy and fairness of debt enables us to start having conversations about how public money should be used... [continues]
#Newsletter: One year of Research for Action
Posted inNewsletters

#Newsletter: One year of Research for Action

Welcome to the first Research for Action newsletter! Research for Action was set up last year as a workers' co-operative by Fanny, Joel and Vica. It had been in the pipeline for a while as we wanted to set up an organisation that would enable us to develop independent research that was meaningful to us and useful for furthering social, economic and environmental justice, and do so in a sustainable way. After many brainstorming sessions, post-it notes, cups of coffee and multiple name choices, Research for Action was born. It has been an exciting year for us. We were awarded... [continues]
Open Letter: Cancel KPMG Appointment as Advisors to Grenfell Tower Inquiry
Posted inGrenfell Tower

Open Letter: Cancel KPMG Appointment as Advisors to Grenfell Tower Inquiry

UPDATE: Following publication of this letter on Sunday 7 January in the FT and Guardian, KPMG have announced they are stepping down as advisors to the Grenfell inquiry with immediate effect! Read updated coverage on the Guardian, FT, BBC. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We the undersigned, call upon the Cabinet Office and Prime Minister Theresa May to reverse the decision to appoint KPMG as advisors to the Grenfell Tower inquiry, without competition. The failure of KPMG to disclose a clear conflict of interest - that KPMG audit Celotex, the parent company which produced the flammable cladding, alongside its role as auditors of the Royal Borough... [continues]
Research for Action submission to Grenfell Tower inquiry terms of reference
Posted inGrenfell Tower

Research for Action submission to Grenfell Tower inquiry terms of reference

Contributors to the submission: Professor Stuart Hodkinson: is a Lecturer in Critical Urban Geography (Leeds University). His main research focus is on the 'new urban enclosures' with specific interest in the politics, policies and day-to-day realities of housing privatisation, urban regeneration and state-led gentrification in the UK. Recent research was an ESRC-funded project exploring residents' experiences of housing/ estate regeneration in England under Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Sid Ryan: Is an investigative journalist specialising in the NHS, Private Finance Initiative and the Freedom of Information Act. During a Fellowship at the Centre for Investigative Journalism, pursued a project into widespread... [continues]