Banks

lep.co.uk

Evening Post, Monday, March 9, 2009

+5

Relivetheheadlineswithourweb-basedmapatlep.co.uk

Finland

£30m

Britain

Belgium

France

£10m

£58m £44m £30m £20m £10m

£20m

Royal Bank of Scotland Nationwide HSBC Lloyds TSB Newcastle City Council

£34m

Of the £251m invested in Britain, the main accounts are held in:

£10m Iceland £251m

Where (and how much) Lancs cash is invested

£50m

Deepdale Retail Park, said it continued to attract strong visitor numbers with trading this weekend reportedly “very healthy.” He said: “It is certainly not meltdown. Our footfall figures are up on previous years and while some stores will be struggling, others are holding their own. “People are being far more prudent in what they purchase.” The Mall manager Ken Williams said it expected to see a 1.5% increase in shoppers on the 320,000 which came through its doors between Christmas and New Year. He said “As the recession takes hold, consumers shopping habits are changing and instead of ‘buying for want’, people are increasingly ‘buying for need.’ “While there are retailers who are struggling, there is activity showing that consumers are spending, and there is room for new businesses to enter the retail market.” Administrators Deloitte, which is handling the chains owned by the nowdefunct Mosaic group, have confirmed they will shut 66 Principles stores and 121 concessions in Debenhams stores across the country, but will keep on 19 of the most profitable stores. A spokesman could not confirm whether the high street store in Fishergate or the shop’s concession in the city’s Debenhams department store would close, but reports suggest the “vast majority” of 2,300 staff employed by Principles nationally are to go. Hugh Evans, policy director at the Fulwoodbased North and Western Chamber of Commerce, said independent stores and those selling ‘non-essential’ items in Preston are still struggling, but food retail is doing well. He said: “In some of the new year sales a lot of the old stock was cleared out because of heavy discounting, so we have got new products in now and when people see new products they tend to buy. The Evening Post can also reveal that talks are ongoing with “two or three interested parties” about taking over the former Woolworths store in Fishergate, which is available to rent.

Ireland

● From Page 1

£180m of our money is in foreign banks Italy

Australia (Clydesdale Bank)

£27m

Bucking the shops trend...

by Chris Visser [email protected]

MORE than £180m of Lancashire taxpayers’ cash is invested in banks outside the UK, it has been revealed.

Despite the setback of having £10m frozen in Icelandic accounts, the county council still has millions in accounts far and wide such as in Finland, Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, France, Italy and Australia.

One Lancashire-based financial expert says he is not surprised, but has warned the authority that you “get what you pay for” and has advised bosses to invest in the UK and in building societies. Of the £432m invested by the county council, of which around £100m is linked to the county’s pension scheme, £251m is held in UK banks such as the Royal Bank of Scotland. But, as of March 4, around £30m was invested in Finnishbased banks, £20m in Belgium, £27m in the Australian-backed Clydesdale Bank, £10m in Italy, £34m in France, £50m in the Republic of Ireland. Another £10m is frozen in Iceland and it is unclear if the council will get the money back. Coun Tony Martin, the county council’s cabinet member for resources, said: “It’s our duty to get the best return

DUE CARE: Coun Tony Martin says Lancs invests abroad as some English banks are not top rated we can on council taxpayers’ money and we will exercise due care on where we put it. “We invest abroad as some of the English banks aren’t AAA credit rated banks and don’t offer the best interest rates. “The Audit Commission has also been saying that councils are being too risk averse but when you have problems with the Icelandic and the Irish banks, they say we didn’t mean to invest there.” The county council’s chief finance officer Adrian Cutts said the investments have been giving interest as high as 6%. He said: “This is money we

12 months reprieve for Iceland cash crisis councils

LANCASHIRE councils at risk of losing more than £20m in Iceland’s collapsed banks have been given a year’s breathing space before they need to plug their blackholes. The Government has taken the exceptional step of changing accounting rules so any potential impact on council budgets is postponed for 12 months. It will mean that

have put aside which we do not need yet, such as for highways liability claims, pensions and extra costs being built up for the waste PFI scheme which we will need £45m for in 2011/12.” But Neil Shoesmith, chief executive of Lancashire-based Marsden Building Society, which has 12 branches around the county, said: “You get what you pay for. It’s not for me to say what council treasurers should do, but building societies remain an investment vehicle which has not caused problems. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that investments are being made outside the UK, but it’s sometimes easier to understand finances within the UK than abroad. “You have greater access to the economic influences by being within a country than outside it unless you have got a sophisticated system.” Mr Shoesmith said all of his building society’s investors are based in the UK with more than 90% from England.

previous stories

lep.co.uk

● Fears over return of

Iceland £10m ● Lancashire councils could lose millions tied up in Icelandic banks

local authorities who invested in Iceland will not have to slash services or increase council taxes this year to make up for any shortfall. Lancashire County Council invested money into Landsbanki before the bank went into receivership last year. Of that cash invested, £6.4m belongs to the county council, £2.5m is from the pension fund,

£668,000 belongs to the county’s Police Authority and £410,000 is from Lancashire Combined Fire Authority. The local authority recently admitted that there is a possibility that at least some of the money will never be seen again. Lancaster Council had invested £6m, South Ribble Council £5m and Chorley Council £2m.