Torbay still counting cost of Liz Truss ‘chaos’

But controversial investments bring in millions

Torbay is still counting the cost of the ‘44 days of madness’ unleashed on the UK economy during the ill-fated premiership of Liz Truss, councillors have been told.

Ms Truss was the Conservative prime minister for just 44 days from 5 September last year, making her the shortest-serving leader ever. A mini-budget delivered by her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng that month caused chaos in the financial markets and sent the pound plummeting to record lows.

Economists estimate that £20 billion was lost on unfunded cuts to national insurance and stamp duty, with a further £10 billion added by higher interest rates and government borrowing costs.

This week, members of Torbay council’s overview and scrutiny board met to discuss a report on the bay’s financial position.

Deputy council leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) criticised the previous Liberal Democrat/Independent partnership which ran the council for four years until the Tories triumphed at the council elections in May.

He said: “It reminds me of the Labour minister who left a note in 2010 saying sorry, there’s no money.”

He said virtually every department in the council overspent last year, and only millions of pounds from the council’s controversial property portfolio and government money in the bank waiting to be spent on Town Deal and Future High Streets regeneration projects saved it.

The portfolio includes properties outside Torbay which were bought by a previous Tory administration several years ago as investments. The council owns a Cornish pasty factory and a parcel warehouse in Kent, among other assets.

“If it wasn’t for this, and if we were running a business, we would actually be bust,” he said.

“While there has been a lot of criticism over the last four years about our investment portfolio, it is bringing in more than £4 million.”

And, he added: “The partnership did well last year because it had that government money sitting there, but it was sitting there because the partnership hadn’t delivered. We will deliver these capital projects.

“As we inherited this report, it is only fair to point these things out.”

But an angry Cllr Darren Cowell (independent, Shiphay), who was deputy leader of the council up until the May election, said he was ‘bemused and bewildered’ by the comments.

He said there had been struggles and challenges with the Town Deal and Future High Streets projects and added: “A lot of the cost inflation has come as a result of the chaos caused to the economy. Forty days of madness and Truss-o-nomics has not helped.

“We need to be honest about this. Let’s make it clear that Town Deal and Future High Streets projects across the country have been struggling to get over the line for the same reasons.

“In fact there are unitary authorities up and down the country that would give their left and right arms to be in the position that we are in.”