Coronavirus won't bankrupt us says Blackpool Council

Coun Don Clapham told a virtual meeting of the council concerns had grown after some local authorities had warned the crisis could force them into bankruptcy.

He said: “We have got a long list of monies that have already been committed and spent, and spent well and there is more to be spent.

“The money is really running like a river at the moment and in the wrong direction with not enough coming in.

“Can you foresee that we will survive all this and come out of it on top and be the Blackpool with the future that we all want?”

Council leader Coun Simon Blackburn said the council would not fail financially but along with authorities across Lancashire was calling for more government support.

He said: “The budget we passed the last time we met together showed we have £38m in reserves.

“We are still at the moment short in terms of the amount of money we have spent versus the amount of money the Government has given us.

“However we have cross party agreement that we will move forward and lobby on that together and our two MPs have been helpful in that endeavour.

“So we are not going to go bust but there is a need for local authorities to work together to make sure we put our point across fairly and accurately.”

Blackpool Council has received £9.8m so far in extra financial support from the Government as part of two tranches of cash handed out to local authorities.

But the cost of coronavirus is forecast to be £21.3m in 2020/21 including nearly £12.9m of additional spending, mainly on adult social services to pay for care.

The rest is potential loss of income of £8.4m including commercial income from council-owned companies, which include Blackpool Transport and the Sandcastle Water Park.