It has only been a few weeks since I announced a £100m loan fund to help boost Blackpool’s local business economy, and to help our council budget become less reliant on ever decreasing government grants.It is clear that within a few years the only money available to local councils will come from council tax and business rates, as well as any other money which we raise ourselves.

The only way that we can raise extra money in that ‘any other income’ category is by becoming self-sufficient, which is exactly the aim with our £100m fund.