Wirral Council to ask for emergency government bailout

The leader of the Conservatives said asking for a bailout was "premature"

A council facing a £49m budget deficit is to officially request an emergency bailout from the government as it battles soaring costs.

Wirral Council agreed to request more funding at a full council meeting after the authority said last month it could only provide legally required services.

Labour councillor Sue Percy pleaded for support and called for "fairer funding for Wirral before it's too late".

The Tories opposed the Labour proposal saying the move was "premature".

The Conservatives pointed to other countries in similar situations due to the war in Ukraine and argued it was too soon to consider such a proposal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"Might I just remind members that last year despite all the doom and gloom-sayers, we got £11m more than was expected," Conservative councillor Tom Anderson said.

While the Greens supported the proposal for a bailout by Labour, its leader Pat Cleary warned the party to think about the impact talk of possible bankruptcy may have on people.

Labour councillor Sue Percy said: "We are not scaring residents. We are just fighting for a fair funding deal from central government."

Councillor Phil Gilchrist, leader of the Liberal Democrats, supported Labour's description of the council's financial situation, adding "we have got to get our residents through this winter but also think of the years ahead".

Councillors also voted to request further government money to support the fire service.

They also committed to setting a target to insulate an estimated 7,000 homes by 2035 during the meeting and voted unanimously to reinstate the ban on fracking after the government recently lifted the moratorium on it.