Time to spend councils' cash

The revelation that 1.2bn of taxpayers' cash is sitting locked away in savings accounts around the region represents a strong example of councils missing the boat. Of course, finance directors may feel that their desire to put money aside for a rainy day has been vindicated by the stringent cuts they now face, but when the cash stockpile reaches a figure so large it looks more like hoarding than prudence.

This money could have been put to better use and for so much of it to be kept back will be particularly galling for ordinary people who have seen their council tax bills rise in order to maintain services.

While voters in Bradford, where cash reserves made up only about nine per cent of the authority's turnover, will have less cause for complaint, others, in areas such Hambleton in North Yorkshire, will have serious questions to ask. Why should the council be sitting on almost 22m, equivalent to more than half its turnover, when the money could be put to use helping local people? Any elderly person who is reliant on the authority for meals on wheels, for example, may well think the cash could have been spent on better food.

Local authorities in Yorkshire face a host of challenges. Not only have they been hit by the recession in, for example, their income from business rates, and the coalition Government's austerity drive, they have also been hit by individual problems. Councils' management of refuse workers, vulnerable children, staff pension funds and investments have all failed at various points in recent years and some of these problems could have been mitigated by using their money more intelligently.

Much like any business, councils are right to keep reserves of cash for the inevitable crises they will face. The difficult times the country faces, however, means that councils must show the flexibilty one would also expect from the private sector. The economic crisis demands innovation, not stagnation.