Walsall Council took out the loans with banks a decade ago when interests rates were significantly higher – and the rates have not been dropped.

The authority’s leader Councillor Mike Bird said staff were working to re-negotiate the deals.

Experts estimate the council, which is slashing jobs and cutting services to balance the books, could have saved £1 million a year taking the loans today, while base interest rates are at an historic low.

Reported by the Express and Star. You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.