Fallings by Sheffield City Council saw £87,000,000 allocated for capital projects in 2012-13 sit in a bank account unspent.

The £87 million, which is the highest ever annual ‘slippage’ recorded by the Council, represents a staggering 43% of the Council’s capital spend.

The failure to spend the allocated funding comes as a result of a backlog of delays as well as under-spends on completed projects.

The revelation follows embarrassing reports last week that the Council failed to spend almost half a million pounds of its revenue budget.

Concerns were first raised by local Liberal Democrats in January when finance officers reported that Council would probably spend £37 million less than initially projected. However, instead of taking action Labour leaders appeared happy for the cash to sit unspent in the bank.

Cllr Andrew Sangar, Sheffield Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Finance, said:

“Far from being strapped for cash, Labour bosses actually failed to spend £87 million intended for infrastructure projects.

“There are facilities right across the city crying out for capital investment, which would actually save the Council money in the long-run. Yet Labour bosses refused to back these projects.

“Instead of hoarding this cash and waiting upon endless delays, Labour bosses should be making sure this money is spent and actually help protect and create local jobs in the process.”