Last week, I presented Watford Rural Parish Council with an opportunity to discuss the possibility of investing a small amount of money to try and create a return on investment for the residents, which could then be used to invest back into the community.

My suggestion was Funding Circle, which enables businesses to access finance independent of their banks and allows them to receive funds within a couple of weeks, compared to up to three months with a traditional bank loan.

It’s been a tried and tested investment since August 2010 and there are currently 18 councils investing through the Funding Circle platform, and the amounts invested vary from £1,000 to £2 million.

The UK Government has invested £20 million and Funding Circle has lent £3.3 billion to UK businesses and has helped create 60,000 jobs directly and indirectly in the British economy.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that for every £1 lent through Funding Circle, £2 is added to the UK economy.

That’s a Brexit busting £6.6 billion added to the UK economy and I challenge any councillor to say that is not a good deal.

Although many councils will rightly seek to invest their money in their own specific areas and they may be reluctant to invest in Funding Circle which opens up the possibilities of supporting businesses up and down the country, councils need to note in many of their own economic growth papers there is an acknowledgement that many of the residents who live in their area often commute to a place of work outside of the council’s area.

Therefore, if councils are unable to attract or create the necessary jobs to support their residents in their area, then they should support their residents’ prospects for job prosperity and general economic growth as a whole, even if it means the job creation happens elsewhere.

It is better to have job creation somewhere, rather than nowhere at all.

The Funding Circle minimum a council could lend to a business is £20, so Funding Circle suggests lending £2,000 would allow a council to lend to at least 100 businesses, lend no more than 1 per cent of the portfolio to each business.

There is a risk to investing and money can be at risk to bad debts, but the odds are in the public’s favour with Funding Circle and every investor who has followed these two steps for at least a year has earned a positive return.

Furthermore, 98 per cent of investors have earned 4 per cent or more annually after fees and any bad debt.

We can build a brighter future for our residents, trying to generate income and steer councils closer toward self efficiency. I encourage every council to support the British economy and British businesses and help create more jobs and opportunities for all residents, of all ages.

Cllr Ty Harris

Watford Rural Parish Council, Hayling Ward