Resilience by numbers

FINANCE

Resilience by numbers

Norwich City Council’s interim Section 151 officer Neville Murton says the council has a history of strong financial management, and using one statistic in isolation is not a good way to predict future financial stability or otherwise.

By Neville Murton | 19 June 2023

In The MJ's lead story on 8 June, the magazine's analysis of CIPFA's resilience index drew attention to councils with the biggest debt to net revenue expenditure ratio - a figure said to dominate when it comes to paying off debts.

I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see Norwich City Council ranked seventh on a list of those where debt repayment costs (at 51%) form the highest proportion of its net revenue expenditure.

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