Concerns have been raised over the level of a debt accumulated by a council.
Northumberland County Council owed £898.4m as of the start of the financial year – up from £830.8m in April 2025.
At a meeting of the audit and standards committee, Independent councillor Patrick Lambert said he was concerned that the amount of debt was equal to £5,500 per household in the area and council taxpayers may “have to pick up the pieces”.
The cabinet member for finance, Nick Oliver, said the council’s spending choices had been affordable and “in the best interests of the residents of Northumberland”.
The Conservative administration has repeatedly insisted its debt is manageable and within the council’s limits, according to the Local Democracy Reporting service.
Lambert said he was concerned taxpayers would be “left liable” for the council debt and asked how the authority intended to tackle it.
He said: “I’m quite a simple person – I look at where the borrowing is in the council and I listen to the leader saying we’re way within our limits, everything is rosy – we’re doing really well and our treasury management is brilliant.
“However, the point I would make is for the residents of Northumberland – there are 162,000 dwellings in Northumberland.
“What we’re doing as a council is borrowing £5,500 in every one of those houses.”
The council borrows money to pay for capital projects, with its borrowing limit currently standing at £1.6 billion.
Oliver defended the council’s position and said Lambert’s point was “political”.
“Every decision on the capital programme is scrutinised, and we all vote on the budget.”
He added it would be unfair to compare the council’s debt to that of a business, as the level of risk incurred was not on the same level.
Oliver added: “If we hadn’t made those decisions, our schools wouldn’t be as good, our roads wouldn’t, our economy wouldn’t; unemployment would be higher.”
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