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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robyn Vinter North of England correspondent

£15bn of public assets sold by English councils since 2010 amid budget shortfalls

Birmingham central library
The central library in Birmingham is owned by the council but could be at risk of being sold as the city tries to get its finances on track. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

About 75,000 public assets, worth about £15bn, have been sold by English councils since 2010, in part to plug holes in their budgets, research by IPPR has found.

An average of 6,000 council assets – such as playing fields, community centres, libraries, youth clubs and swimming pools – worth £1.2bn have been sold each year in the past 13 years, the thinktank estimated, through analysis of government data and statistics from a freedom of information request.

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