Woking council has laid out a drastic package of cuts to local services after it in effect declared itself bankrupt this summer, revealing a £1.2bn deficit racked up from a risky investment spree overseen by its former Conservative administration.
Plans include scrapping funding for dozens of the town’s sports pavilions and toilets, the closure of a swimming pool, cutting resources for parks, the arts, and ending council backing for some community centres, annual concerts, and involvement in youth sporting events.
The troubled Surrey local authority also proposed scrapping millions of pounds in support for playgrounds and community care schemes for young, old and vulnerable residents in an attempt to balance the books. It will launch a consultation on the proposals next month.
In a document setting out a wide-ranging austerity programme, it also revealed plans to remove funding for choir and dance classes for residents with Parkinson’s disease, as well as grants for community transport for elderly and disabled people, and for a local charity helping domestic abuse survivors.
John Bond, a former independent councillor in the authority, said: “It’s horrendous. I think residents were unaware really quite how bad it would be. Who will want to come and live in Woking now?
“It’s going to affect everything, with the vulnerable suffering most. There is so much money owing, it’s going to go on for 10 or 20 years. The amounts are mind-boggling.”
The council also said it could not afford to complete a 1,200-home development at the Sheerwater estate, a regeneration scheme it was part way through building, and would seek “alternative options” to finish the project.
Council coordination and support for a summer concert series, annual celebrations for Diwali and Chinese new year, and the town’s involvement in the Surrey Youth Games will also cease.
As one of a growing number of English local authorities in financial distress, Woking issued a section 114 notice in June, signalling that it lacked the resources to balance its budget.
Birmingham city council, the largest local authority in the UK, became the latest to issue such a notice this week, blaming a £760m bill for equal pay claims, problems installing a new IT system and £1bn in government cuts over the past decade.
Rishi Sunak sought this week to capitalise on the Labour-run authority’s meltdown, telling the Commons: “They’ve bankrupted Birmingham, we can’t let them bankrupt Britain.”
However, councils from across the political divide are increasingly sounding the alarm over mounting financial pressures, after years of cuts to central government funding, soaring inflation, and rising demand amid the cost of living crisis.
Others to issue section 114 notices in the past couple of years include Conservative-run Northamptonshire and Thurrock, alongside Labour-run Slough and Nottingham. At least 26 English local authorities are thought to be at risk of issuing a section 114 notice within the next two years.
Woking’s troubles stem from a programme of commercial investments and regeneration schemes involving hotels and skyscrapers overseen by its former Tory administration, after piling up debts of £1.8bn – more than 100 times its annual £16m of core funding from council tax, government grants and other income.
The council’s Liberal Democrat leadership has blamed the party, which they ousted last year, for borrowing billions of pounds to fund risky schemes, including a complex of towers in the town centre – standing as the tallest buildings outside a big city in England – with a four-star Hilton hotel, public plazas, parking facilities and shops.
Ann-Marie Barker, the council leader, said: “These are dreadful proposals we don’t want to put forward. However, it’s important to note that it is historic debt levels we’re dealing with, on an unprecedented scale.”
Although acknowledging that Woking residents would “rightly be unhappy with what we’re going to do”, Barker said the Conservatives were responsible for running up its £1.2bn deficit. “We need to put our house in order to live within our means.”
Despite the efforts to find savings, the council documents, published before a key meeting next week setting out its medium-term financial plan, predicted Woking would still face an £11m shortfall in its budget for 2024-25. The council said it was also in talks with central government to explore a potential package of financial support.
