I return from holiday (having easily resisted the temptation to post to mycouncillor from various European internet cafes) to a 70-page report from Tribal and one of 16 pages from KPMG, both addressing the problems of Stroud District’s council housing.

Some weeks ago, it was  discovered that the housing revenue account had been overspent by up to £ 1.2m. At this point Stroud District Council (SDC) commissioned these reports, arranged policy seminars for councillors and set up special cabinet, scrutiny and council meetings for September. Subsequent investigation has brought the figure down to £873,000 – quite bad enough!

Starting to read the Tribal report last night, I was surprised to find it is all about the Future of Stroud’s Council Housing, rather than the whys and wherefores of the overspend. Seems to me that the baby is ready to be chucked out with the bathwater.  According to SDC’s website, there are three reports – I look forward to finding out what the third is about.

Some years ago, SDC tenants voted to remain so and not be handed over to a housing association, or any of the other options presented by the government at the time.

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