Huge debts owed to Dumfries and Galloway Council by mobile phone companies have risen to £1 million, it has been revealed.
Crisis talks have been held in recent weeks due to the local authority facing a funding shortfall of around £50m over the next five years.
And a special seminar is even being organised to come up with solutions for balancing the books.
Meanwhile, mobile phone operators have been renting 10 hill sites for their network radio towers – and have failed to cough up for their bills.
The matter was raised at the communities committee where Councillor John Campbell asked about the income from these radio masts.
Mr Campbell, vice chairman of the committee, said: “For the radio hill sites, I’m wondering just how much revenue we should be getting for the radio masts, how much we’ll be getting in future, and what the progress is.”
In November 2021, finance chiefs reported that they were working on clawing back more than £750,000 that is owed to the council by mobile phone companies.
They stated it was a “key priority”.
Almost a year later, that debt has risen rather than been reduced as negotiations have been dragging on over future annual rental
fees.
Harry Hay, the authority’s head of neighbourhood services, said: “The council’s legal team, in conjunction with my service team, are now in advanced negotiations with the external organisations and their legal agents.
“Without wishing to tempt fate, we now seem to be at a position where there is collective agreement on what we can put in place moving forward.
“On that basis, we would hope to come back to elected members at the next service committee with specific details on that.
“As members will appreciate, the nature of the negotiations are commercially sensitive.
“Whilst we want to be fully transparent in terms of rental agreements etc, I’m confident that once we reach this agreement not only will it deal with the extent of the accrual, it will also deal with future rental on an annual
basis.”
Finance officer Caroline McQuistan confirmed that the council will receive around £400,000 per year in rental fees going forward.
Mr Campbell then pressed for more details about how much is owed to the council right now and whether or not this extra income can help in the budget setting process.
“The £400,000 is an approximate amount of what we will get on an annual basis and will be something that’s already built into the budget. We’ve been expecting to receive this.”
