Waste firm owned by Coventry City Council to get £20m loan from the authority

Tom White Waste wants to upgrade its facilities and recycle more waste, the LDRS said

Coventry City Council is set to lend its own waste management firm over £20m, it is understood.

Tom White Waste was purchased by the local authority in March 2020, and it was used to collect refuse when Unite workers went on strike.

Despite facing a big budget shortfall itself, the council has agreed to take out loans to lend the firm £22.7m to upgrade facilities.

The local authority said it would ultimately help to cut down on costs.

The money will fund a new plant that the council said would allow 70% of waste to be sent to recycling, and therefore reduce the costs associated with landfill.

However the loans are expected to total £33m with financing costs, and will see the company repay it at a commercial rate, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Its value had been kept secret in private meetings and reports by the council, and although the Labour-run authority has not confirmed it, the amount has been confirmed to the LDRS by multiple sources.

Protesters gathered outside Tom White Waste during the Unite dispute with the city council this year

"This is about using council funds to make investments that support the mitigation of climate change in line with council policies and help its budget and ultimately help to then fund front line services in the city," the council said.

"The value of the loan is commercially confidential until the point that the loan is formally agreed - at which point the value of the loan will be made public through the council's published capital programme."

Officers recommended that it be approved in a public report for Wednesday's full council meeting.

But councillor Gary Ridley, leader of the Conservative opposition group, said the party was not supporting the plan and it "exposes the taxpayer to millions and millions in liabilities" if the deal goes wrong.

Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change councillor Jim O'Boyle said the council was facing its biggest budget gap in 12 years as a result of the Conservative government "trashing the economy" and "it was the right thing to do" if it brings in revenue and income for the city.

At a public vote to approve the loan, Labour members voted for it and Conservative councillors against.

The LDRS understands there was the same divide at a later private meeting about the loan, meaning the decision will go through.

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