There goes 8 million pounds?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Wiltshire Council had 8 million pounds invested in an Icelandic Bank that has failed, and it's not clear if / when / how much of that money will be recovered.

See their statement at
http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/getnewsitem.htm?id=2353

and my thoughts at
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7931

[devon_metro]

Its scandalous. Torbay Council is talking about turning off street lights at night in order to save ^30,000. safe??

[grahame]

Its scandalous. Torbay Council is talking about turning off street lights at night in order to save ^30,000. safe??

Well - looking at Wiltshire, the top five executives cost (between them) around 800k per year after bonuses and public funded pension contributions have been added, and I'm thinking that at the current time they should consider - at the least - drawing just a regular salary if they have indeed lost millions.

I can't find any reference from a quick search to tell me that Torbay had any money looking for a high return (which usually means "at high risk") in Iceland, but neither have I found any categorical denials.

[The 800k figure is for a previous year from the local newspaper, and some but not all of the top players have changed since. I do not have the current wage bill, but can't imagine it's gone down a lot]

[grahame]

Its scandalous. Torbay Council is talking about turning off street lights at night in order to save ^30,000. safe??

Further research - the Guardian yesterday had a list of those known to be effected, and in FGW^▸ (First Great Western) territory they listed these 27 (from the highest sum at risk first):

Dorset county council
Somerset county council
Neath Port Talbot county council
Caerphilly county borough council
Plymouth city council
Cheltenham borough council
Wyre Forest district council
West Oxfordshire district council
Bristol city council
Wiltshire county council
Cherwell district council
Ceredigion county council
Oxfordshire county council
Exeter city council
Cornwall county council
Restormel borough council
Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council
North Somerset council
Stroud district council
South Oxfordshire district council
Cotswold district council
Gloucester city council
Monmouthshire county council
Wychavon district council
South Hams district council
Vale of White Horse district council
Tewkesbury borough council

They also listed some other councils known NOT to be effected, all of which were out-of-area.

I'm wondering if this topic may stray slightly too far from "rail" for some of our readers, but in the other hand there are some "Transport Authorities" in there so it could come back at us.

Devon_Metro - neither Torbay nor Devon are yet listed as "know to have lost", but they haven't appears on any all-clear list that I've seen.

[Chris from Nailsea]

A similar list on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news website gives details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7660741.stm

Exeter are exposed to a potential loss of ^5,000,000 and Mid-Devon to ^1,100,000.  No mention of Torbay, though.

As to Transport for London?  ^40,000,000 

[TerminalJunkie]

Further research - the Guardian yesterday had a list of those known to be effected

Affected, not effected...

Dorset

I seem to remember seeing someone from Dorset on telly yesterday, bleating that the Government should bail them out with taxpayers money because '...they only put money in the Icelandic banks because the Government advised them to spread the risk.'

It was apparently lost on them that you spread the risk precisely because there is a risk, and by spreading your investments you reduce the amount you potentially lose when a bank goes titsup: therefore you shouldn't need to be bailed out... 

[stebbo]

Apologies that all this has nothing to do (directly) with railways or FGW^▸ (First Great Western), but:

1. the warning signs of a crash were plain perhaps two years ago (anyone read "Fantasy Island" - an excellent dissection of Blair and Brown's disastrous policies written by tow Guardian economics correspondents?).

2. anyone who thought that a country like Iceland could become a world banking superpower needs their heads examining

3. reality dictates the need for a serious shakedown/realignment which sadly = pain for most people and whatever governments do, you and I will have to pay for other's mistakes

BUT getting back on message, maybe the government needs to consider a period of spending on public works as it did back in the 1930s with the London Underground expansion. So, maybe hello to Cotswold line redoubling (and Swindon to Kemble?). Answers my worry expressed in another blog on the Cotswold line issue.

[Ollie]

In regard to Graham's list, there are more council's in FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land affected.

To name a few:

Wokingham Borough Council (^5 million)
Westminster Council (^17 million)
Slough Council (^2.5 million)

Not forgetting:

Transport for London (^40 million)
Met Police (^30 million)

[Lee]

Wiltshire County Council could get back only a third of the ^8m it invested in an Icelandic bank that has collapsed (links below.)
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/latestheadlines/3777573.Council_s_cash_on_ice/

http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/latestheadlines/3784102.Council_losing___27k_interest_a_month_/

[Lee]

From the Save The Train forum :

Wiltshire County Council has been accused of spending ^7m on roads that may never be built (including Westbury bypass)

http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/latestheadlines/3785605.Fury_over___7m_spent_on_unbuilt_roads_/

^I think the council tax payers of Wiltshire need to know that the council has spent more than ^7m on developing roads that may never be built when the region^s rail network is one of the most complained about in the country.

^We believe the council^s priorities have been traditionally wrong and the time has come to invest in more sustainable transport.