Councils' Property Assets Revealed

Councils are being told to be more open about the commercial property they own - and consider selling them to raise much needed funds.

The findings come as a result of Freedom of Information requests from the Taxpayer's Alliance, which wants "an adult conversation" about the issue.

Fife Council must cut spending by £77million pounds by 2017, and shelved plans for £30millon education cuts earlier this year, with leader David Ross saying the Labour administration “will not be accepting future cuts" in the education budget.

Our local authority holds:

• 8 golf courses
• 139 car parks
• 17 farms
• 5 theatres
• 24 shops
• 1 restaurant
• 1 hotel
• 0 pubs
• 0 shopping centres
• 1 funeral parlour

The UK wide research found that Dumfries and Galloway Council owns a cheese factory, Bristol City Council and Harlow District Council both own nightclubs, Gravesham Borough Council owns a model railway and Thurrock Borough Council own a bookies and a supermarket.

Jonathan Isaby, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:

"What possible business does a council have owning a nightclub? 

 "It looks deeply hypocritical for councils to plead poverty as an excuse for hiking Council Tax when they've got such a huge asset portfolio. Local authorities should be focussed on essential services. The time has come for a serious discussion on what councils should, and should not, be doing - a drastic rethink which saw many of these assets returned to the private sector where some of them clearly belong would be a dramatic step towards a balanced budget and protecting taxpayers."
Kenneth Duncan, Lead Officer  at Fife Council said: "It is rather misleading to imply that the council own a hotel, a funeral parlour and several farms.

"In reality the council merely owns the land on which these buildings sit and the owners hold a land lease with us.

"This is not uncommon and much of this land was passed on to Fife Council from former regional, burgh and district councils.

In cases where the buildings themselves are owned by Fife Council they are leased out properties and non operational."