Milton Keynes Lib Dems accused of hoarding £4m of housing cash

A row has broken out in milton keynes over the whereabouts of £4m earmarked for housing.

The city’s Liberal Democrat administration has been accused of withholding millions in capital receipts and major repair allowance budget instead of spending the money on improving homes.

Kevin Wilson, deputy Labour leader and chair of the council’s audit committee, said the unspent cash came to light after scrutiny of cabinet reports and questioning of officers and cabinet members.

This revealed that more than £1m of the repairs budget had not been spent and £3m of capital receipts from right to buy sales had been diverted to non-housing services.

With an estimated £58m needed to bring the council’s stock up to the 2010 decent homes standard, Wilson said the unspent money was “not an insignificant amount”.

“If it’s your new kitchen or your new roof, this is not a drop in the ocean,” he said.

“While the £4m will not solve all the problems, it would go a long way. It amounts to well over £300 for every council property.

“We will be keeping up the pressure on this matter. We’ve raised the issue with officers, and hope to have it scrutinised by committee.”

But the council hit back at Wilson’s claims. Irene Henderson, cabinet member for social care, housing and health said: “He has deliberately misinterpreted the figure.

“The £3m that he is taking about was largely accumulated when Labour was still in power.

“Labour had been skimming off money from the sale of council house receipts because they had to spend the money in the year they received it. When we came in two years ago, we changed this policy. We now spend 100% of the money we make from council house sales on housing repair and maintenance.

“The £1m he’s talking about has been held back to await the findings of our stock option review. That way we can ensure that we spend it effectively.”