Guide: How to challenge your council’s financial decisions
Posted inAudit and Accountability Publications

Guide: How to challenge your council’s financial decisions

Below is a guide for individuals and campaigners on how to use the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 to obtain information from local government and object to spending decisions not undertaken in the public interest. The right to inspect the accounts and any underlying documents apply to anyone who is either: a local resident on the electoral register and/ or a citizen journalist/ blogger or campaigner who has published any material online. Please note however that the rights to ask questions to the auditor and to object apply only to local residents, on the electoral register for the council in... [continues]
June Newsletter: object to your council’s accounts. We are winning on LOBO loans!
Posted inNewsletters

June Newsletter: object to your council’s accounts. We are winning on LOBO loans!

Hi all, Even if it hasn’t felt like summer this week, it is June and the season for inspecting council accounts. An important victory in Newham showed us that exiting LOBO loans is possible and can free up millions for housing and services... The summer also brings many exciting events both for us and in the wider networks for debt justice and local democracy - see below! TAKE ACTION Inspect your council’s accounts! You can inspect your council’s accounts and object to spending you believe is not in the public interest.  The period to do so is now in England,... [continues]
MP and councillor letter on LOBO loans
Posted inCitizen Debt Audit

MP and councillor letter on LOBO loans

Introduction: This letter is intended to be circulated cross-party to MPs and throughout networks of local government councillors in England, Wales and Scotland in councils (at least 2o0) affected by LOBO loans. The letter is calling for action from the Local Government Association (LGA), Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and HM Treasury (HMT). LOBO loans are a national problem, caused by failure to adequately regulate and monitor the financial system – and to protect councils and taxpayers from mis-selling and market abuse by powerful financial firms. We are calling for a political solution so that further taxpayer... [continues]
May newsletter: Local elections, summit for change & more
Posted inNewsletters

May newsletter: Local elections, summit for change & more

Hi all, Spring is advancing fast and we at Research for Action have another newsletter full of news to tell you… TAKING ACTION Submission to Local Government Finance and the 2019 Spending Review inquiry The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee is inviting submissions to an inquiry on local government finance. It promises to “consider how effective the existing funding set-up for local government is in providing resources to meet need and demand for local services both now and in the future”. We made a submission (not public on the website yet) based on our reports Debt and Democracy on... [continues]
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]
March Newsletter: finance and empire
Posted inNewsletters

March Newsletter: finance and empire

Welcome to our March newsletter. Spring is advancing fast and packed with exciting events... We are also proud to announce Research for Action is two years old this month! If you would like to support our work with a birthday present, you can donate here. Thank you for everyone who has supported us this far. EVENTS Finance Capital & the Ghosts of Empire: Revisiting Colonial Debts, Extractive Nostalgias, Imperial Insolvencies 5-6 April 2019, University of Sussex This two-day event will bring together scholars, artists and activists working in different fields to explore the role of the Empire in configuration of... [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]
Posted inSolidarity

Solidarity with the Stansted 15

In March 2017, a group of 15 activists halted a flight that was due to deport people from the UK to Nigeria and Ghana. The activists, known as the Stansted 15, have been found guilty of endangering an aerodrome, a terrorism offence that has only been used once since it was introduced in 1990 and carries a maximum of lifetime imprisonment. They will be sentenced on 6 February. Of the 60 people who were due to be deported on the flight, 11 are still in the country pursuing their asylum claims. Two have been granted indefinite leave to remain, and... [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]