Woking council releases details of its £12m cuts to services

The Gateway review lists 38 departments and services that will go or be scaled back

Woking Borough Council announce details of its £12m cuts to services
Author: Emma SmithPublished 11th Sep 2023

Details on the cuts that will shape the future of life in Woking have been published.

The Gateway review lists 38 departments, services, and facilities that will go or be drastically scaled back.

In June, Woking Borough Council declared itself effectively bankrupt with debts set to hit £2.6billion and a deficit of £1.2bn and a £12m gap in its annual budget. This meant a freeze on all new spending with residents waiting to learn how the broke local authority would make the saving cuts to balance its books.

These cuts are outside the huge debt mountain built on the back of a failed investment scheme which left the council with £68m a year in interest repayments. The council has already said it will be impossible recover its total deficit without Government help.

To get that support Woking Borough Council has been told it must cut all unnecessary spending and raise as much income as possible. The cut backs include the closure of Pool in the Park, the ending of council funding for the Lightbox Theatre, and the removal of public toilets.

The council has said it will run public consultations into the proposed closures and funding cuts on October 2.

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