Bad maths could cost Milton Keynes Council £1.5m this year, say Conservatives

A 'glaring error' in MK Council' s budget may mean the city loses out on £1.5m of government grants this year.

Conservative councillors spotted the mistake in the Labour and Liberal Democrat Council’s draft budget for 2022/23.

When reviewing government papers, the councillors discovered the number of empty properties in the Council grant application had been "dramatically overstated."

Instead of putting the correct answer of 826 empty properties, the council had registered more than twice that amount - 1,792.

This meant the borough would lose out on £1.5 million from the Government’s New Homes Bonus, a grant paid to local authorities to incentivise housebuilding and bringing long-term empty properties back into use.

As of December 2021, MK Council were only set to receive £2.5 million.

However, thanks to Conservative due diligence, MK Council could now be set for a £4 million grant, potentially sparing the blushes of Labour and Lib Dem cabinet members who hadn’t spotted the error, say the local Tories.

But it remains unknown whether MK Council will recover the full settlement - and losing £1.5 million of taxpayer’s money remains a "grim possibility" for the Labour and Liberal Democrat run administration, the Conservatives say.

The government will announce the final figures some time in February, although a date has yet to be announced.

Cllr Alex Walker, Leader of the Conservative group, said: “This error has been caused by a blundering Council that has taken its eye off the ball once again.

" The fact that they nearly lost this money altogether is concerning at best and raises serious questions over Labour and the Liberal Democrats’ competence and ability to run MK Council.

"It is only thanks to the local Conservatives thorough scrutiny of the budget, that we have now have a chance to save £1.5 million in taxpayer’s cash that would have otherwise been lost.”