ST Helens Council’s net worth has been revealed.

The information was included in the council’s draft Statement of Accounts 2017-18, which it is legally obliged to publish.

The annual document was signed off on March 31 by the-then head of finance, Ian Roberts, who certified that it “presented a true and fair view” of the financial position of the council at the end of the year.

It revealed that as of March 31, the council’s total net assets were £122.6 million.

Jon Ridgeon, business support manager for corporate services, explained how the council came to that figure to members of the audit and finance committee this week.

He said: “If we stopped doing business, stopped as an organisation on the 31 March, we sold all our assets, collected all the money that was due to us, paid all our liabilities out – what would we be worth?

“What would we be left with as an authority?

“The balance sheet shows that the balance of the net assets is £122.6 million.”

He said that figure is split between useable reserves and unusable reserves.

“What that shows is that the council is on around financially footing in terms of its overall net worth to continue to carry on providing the services it needs to,” he said.

In 2017-18, the council’s reserves increased, in year, by £29.3 million.

Mr Ridgeon said this is largely down to unusable reserves, which increased by £35.8 million, largely due to an increase in the pension reserve.

Unusable reserves hold costs that the authority has accrued but not yet financed and cannot be spent on council services.

He also said the liability the council has reduced in-year by £41 million, predominantly due to “favourable movement” in the rates used to calculate future liabilities on pensions.

Mr Ridgeon said a lump sum of £20.5 million the council paid into the pension fund during the year also impacted that figure.

He said other authorities have ran into financial difficulties as they have begun using their reserves due to a lack of funds.

The council officer pointed to Northampton Council, which declared itself effectively bankrupt in February.

“Authorities have had to start to use reserves to pay for items or one-off development because they’ve not had enough money because of the austerity measures in place,” he said.

“Using Northampton as an example, they’ve not been able to balance their budget.

“They’ve been running down their reserves and their net worth has been dropping and dropping and that’s where the problems have come.

“What we need to do is make sure we are managing that position as well as we can and provide the day to day services that are funded by the revenue budget.

“That shows that we are set up to continue managing that process as best as we possibly can.”

The draft Statement of Accounts also revealed that the authority’s cash flow has reduced from £16 million to £13 million.

Mr Ridgeon said the reason for the reduction is because Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) has reduced its cash levels in year.

The council has a service level agreement with MRWA, which includes handing its banking transactions.

Mr Ridgeon said the council charges MRWA around £120k per year for this service.

He said the councils’ cash levels have stayed “fairly static” in 2017-18.

The audit and finance committee noted the draft Statement of Accounts 2017-18, which is subject to audit.