A top Greenwich councillor has accused the BBC of being “misleading” as she defends the authority’s finances.

It comes following a report that the council was one of 11 set to “fully exhaust” its reserves within four years.

Cash reserves – money held back for specific projects or emergencies – are seen as a measure of financial security.

The BBC published an article last week highlighting Greenwich as one of the country’s worst authorities for dipping into its savings.

Data showed Greenwich as having a 44 per cent drop in its reserves between 2015 and 2018.

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This was topped by Northamptonshire, which made headlines earlier this year after it was saved from collapsing altogether by the government.

Councillor Christine Grice, Greenwich’s cabinet member for finance and resources, said in a statement: “The BBC report that identified 11 authorities, including the Royal Borough of Greenwich, that would have “fully exhausted” reserves within four years unless they topped them up is misleading.

“We are a well-run council and our financial policies and procedures were endorsed in last year’s independent audit, which stated that we ‘continue to maintain a robust reserves position that is stronger than the majority of other London boroughs’.

“Most of the decrease in reserves is because as a council we are investing in regeneration projects that will create jobs and make the borough an even better place to live, work and visit.

“These include a landmark cultural district in Woolwich, a brand new library and leisure centre in Plumstead and the biggest council house building programme in a generation. Another big portion of the decrease is because reserves for schools is now separated out – we haven’t actually spent it.”

The council is spending £31m on revamping parts of Woolwich for the cultural quarter, figures which previously raised eyebrows with the opposition.

Councils have faced funding cuts and rising demand for services, with the London Government Association claiming there is now “systematic underfunding”.

Greenwich has not escaped these pressures and was forced to identify millions in so called back office “efficiency savings” just months ago as it set its budget.

Since 2010, the amount of government money Greenwich gets has been cut whilst demand and inflation surges, leaving the council with £125m shortfall.

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Cllr Grice added: “Unless we do something about it, we will face a growing pressure on our budget of at least £7.5m every year. We’ve increased council tax by 2.99per cent, but we’ll still have to find ways of spending less money.

“We have saved money by making our back office processes more efficient, for example, by moving services online, and reducing the number of people we employ. We’ve got about 1,000 fewer staff than in 2010 when the government’s cuts started.

“Everyone knows that councils clean the streets, empty bins, run schools and leisure centres, but there are lots of crucial services that we don’t have to provide but if we didn’t lots of people would suffer.

“We’re also stepping in when government policies have hurt people such as the disastrous effect of universal credit. About 1,000 council tenants in Greenwich have moved over to UC and almost 80 per cent of them are now in rent arrears, as they struggle to make ends meet.”