A COUNCIL seeking to become financially self-sufficient within two years looks set to grant its chief officer and council leader the power to invest up to £5m of taxpayers’ money in schemes to bolster its coffers.

Cabinet members of Hambleton District Council, which serves 90,000 residents, will consider approving the move to speed up decisions on projects which are potentially lucrative or help protect the authority’s services.

The decision to allow major spending without the approval of the authority’s elected Cabinet comes as the Government is moving towards a system where grants from Whitehall are being phased out.

The Local Government Association has predicted a £7.8bn funding gap for English councils by 2025.

As recently as 2010, 80 per cent of council funding came through Whitehall, but within three years many councils are expected to become more self-funding through business rates and whatever other income they can generate.

While councils are expected to be allowed to retain 75 per cent of business rates by 2020-21, to secure all its services Conservative-run Hambleton is pushing ahead with a drive to become more commercially focussed.

An officers’ report to the Cabinet warns the authority could miss out on commercial opportunities which are only available for a limited period as at present the council can only make offers to purchase or to invest in assets and ventures subject to Cabinet approval.

It states: “This may result in the council being considered less favourably compared to a potential competitor that can complete an acquisition or investment more quickly.”

It has been proposed to create an investment board of senior officers to scrutinise commercial opportunities, associated risks as well as the financial and legal implications.

The report states all delegated decisions would be shaped by the council’s strategies and subject to checks and balances such as having to have the business case signed off by two officers. All such investments would be reported to the following Cabinet meeting.

Cllr Robson said the powers could be used for anything to purchasing land for redevelopment, as it has done at the former Northallerton Prison site, to contributing towards infrastructure, such as it has with the bridge near Dalton Industrial Estate, which helped secure business rates and council tax payments.

He said the authority’s Government grant had dropped by about £5m over the last six years, and had developed a ten-year financial strategy to counter the cuts and the council could be financially self-sufficient in as little as 18 months. Cllr Robson said: “We are constantly looking for opportunities that will safeguard the frontline services that we provide.”

When asked if the move presented a greater risk to public money, Cllr Robson said: “We do a robust check into anything before we do it. We don’t take any of these opportunities lightly. Look at the history of Hambleton and look at my history as its leader for the last six years.”