OPPOSITION councillors on Thurrock Council have been successful in demanding an extraordinary meeting of the council to debate it huge borrowing programme and the alleged secrecy which surround it.

The council has borrowed more than one billion pounds to fund profit-making investments which have supported its budget programme. So far, investments made by the council have generated £30 million profit.

However, Labour members and some independents, have been concerned about the level of borrowing and the financial risk it puts the council in and have questioned whether the level of borrowing had been sanctioned by councillors.

In May Labour group leader John Kent called for a special meeting of the council to scrutinise what has happened – and that meeting will now take place next Wednesday (8 July).

The debt level of debt was first reported by major probe into the council's action by the Financial Times and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

The ruling Conservative group has defended the investment programme and illustrated its success as the additional cash has helped the borough's economy survive through the Covid-19 pandemic.

But Cllr Kent has called the debt, which stood at £1.2 billion in January – higher than any other local authority – "deeply worrying".

The Labour leader also highlighted that the total amount borrowed by the council over several years has been £2.75 billion, along with an "eye watering" level of interest payments which have reached £11.93 million.

A report published ahead of the meeting on Wednesday night, says: "The investment approach to generating income to protect council services, began in 2014 and was supported by the unanimous agreement at Full Council of a new investment strategy in October 2017.

"The implementation of this strategy has achieved, and continues to achieve, significant income giving the council the ability to protect services for the most vulnerable in the borough, provide time to reform services, provide additional services that are important to residents, and increase the council's overall financial resilience.

"This approach has been agreed at Full Council since 2017."

It continued: "Whilst there has also been significant focus on the council's level of debt, it is important to remember that the amounts relating to these investments will all be repaid."

The council's confidence in the borrowing has not been shared by one local authority which once lent Thurrock money. Edinburgh council loaned Thurrock £20 million but saw the risk of lending to the authority as being so high that it officially blacklisted the authority in 2018.

National government guidelines say councils should not borrow more than or in advance of need, purely to profit from investments.