Woking Borough Council leader welcomes government review into debt
The borough council’s debt is forecast to rise to more than £2 billion in the next few years
The government intends to conduct a review of Woking Borough Council’s finances, where debts are forecast to reach nearly £2.4 billion by 2024/25.
The high level of debt is a result of borrowing that the council took on whilst trying to deliver housing, sustainable energy and major long-term infrastructure projects.
But these efforts have left Woking with the highest level of debt - relative to its size - of any authority in the country.
This led MP Paul Scully of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to write to the leader of the council about a review.
He outlined his concerns that taxpayers’ money was being put at risk, though he did note that his staff had started to engage with the council on the matter in a positive way.
Mr. Scully has proposed an external review into finances in Woking on a non-statutory basis.
Liberal Democrat Councillor, Ann-Marie Barker who has been in charge of Woking Borough Council since May welcomed the review.
“As a council my officers have been working very closely with the government since we first started working with them in May and I think the government response is the best we could have expected at this stage.”
At the same time the Councillor did acknowledge the difficult position the borough is in.
“There’s a huge amount of borrowing that’s going to take a long time to be paid back.’
But she was positive about the 'partnership approach' of her council to tackle the issue.
“You may have seen other councils where the government has really gone in and taken over. With us it’s very much about taking a partnership approach.”
She attributed this to the council’s collaborative approach so far.
“I think that is because we’ve already worked so well to date.”
“Also, because we’ve reached out to Surrey County Council and recognised that they’ve got additional financial resources and asked them to support us on this.”