Time Flies

It’s local election time again. It is a good point to take stock, summarise, and share what I have discovered over the two years since the Lib Dems took over the council and the three years since St Johns residents elected me as a councillor. 

Most importantly, to point out what has been achieved and what further work needs to be done.

Everything was Broken 

The biggest surprise was how much was broken. At a local government event last year Tony McArdle, a commissioner in both Croydon and Thurrock, pointed out that councils don’t fail because they get into financial difficulties, they get into financial difficulties because they have failed. 

This turned out to be very much the case in Woking with basic corporate practices not in place. There was a chronic under investment in council priorities to make space to focus on ambitious projects, investment, and property investment all of which were, as a matter of record, managed disastrously.

Housing

Let me start with housing. Woking’s primary duty is as a housing authority yet the stock of over 3,000 homes were in such poor condition that the council was forced to self-refer to the social housing regulator. Though housing finances are entirely separate (to the general fund) they were also in a mess. Detailed work uncovered more than £2 million of incorrect charges to what is known as the housing revenue account (HRA). There was little in the press because it was small relative to the £1.5B deficit and the eyewatering £2B borrowing against the general fund but it was still important to us because it is people’s homes. Housing finances were, soberingly, at risk of their own section 114. 

The first order of business was to unravel the historic issues, address the incorrect charges, avoid the section 114, and then put in plans to deal with urgent safety, and decent homes work. The budget agreed, this year, for housing is four times the typical budget. I should add that it is both affordable, and prudent. More than that, this is a turning point for Woking. It is investing in what it should be as a borough council.

Customer Services

When residents wanted to contact the council about housing or anything else they were faced with a chaotic web site, a choice of 106 different email addresses, and at least 70 different telephone numbers. Systems were, and still are, outdated and none of them talked to each other. In most organisations, customers (or residents) can achieve at least 60% of what they want to do online. This leaves staff free to deal with more complex queries and support residents that need extra help. Some organisations achieve 80% online but Woking wasn’t even close at 45% because improvements made in other councils over the last two decades passed Woking by. Contacting to the Council is hard work for residents, and frustrating for staff who want to help, want to make a difference but are wrestling with systems that were last acceptable in the eighties.

Some ‘quick win’ changes have already been made to the web site that make, for example, council tax queries easier to navigate. Clearer guidance on the various council tax support has also been implemented. Both have been tested with residents. Though it will take some time to catch-up from being decades behind, the programme of work is already underway including long-overdue staff-training.

Ensuring It Never Happens Again

Council leadership is most focused on how we ensure that what happened in Woking does not happen again. Organisations, including local authorities, should be able to protect themselves from the catastrophe that occurred in Woking. It does this with the boring stuff such as processes, policies, controls, governance, systems, and both internal and external audits. Oh and a constructive, positive, and healthy organisational culture.

This is the area in which Woking was most broken. Property and land purchases were made without valuations, risk management was still failing even after it has been called out in the Gifty Report, audit was in disarray, and there was a toxic and secretive culture reported extensively in local press. There was also an obvious and potential conflict of interest because conservative councillors were also company directors of council-owned companies. Local liberal democrats, in opposition, had refused director positions for this reason.

Professional valuations have now become mandatory, and all but the commercial aspects of what would previously have been discussed in private, are now discussed in public meetings. A new meeting structure has been introduced that means there will be more overview, and scrutiny, more public meetings, and fewer private ones. Much has been done on risk, council-owned company governance. There are now no councillors as directors of council-owned companies, and council-owned company governance is being overhauled. 

Everyone is determined to fix this, the underlying cause of the massive financial failing in Woking.

Finances

We signalled the seriousness of the Council’s finances in our very first medium term financial strategy (MTFS) in 2022. In the second we initiated a review of spending, in December unprecedented cost controls, and at the outset of 2023, we confirmed the Council was in section-114 territory. Then last year we met with government intervention in May and declared a section-114 in June outlining a £1.2B deficit, out of control, and spiralling to £1.5B by 2025/26.  

This has been addressed with difficult £8M saving programme, the subject of 8,000 responses in the first phase of public consultation, and 6,000 in the second. The resulting budget was also the subject of over 700 hours of council scrutiny across nearly 30 additional meetings. Regrettably, council tax was increased and though any increase is unwelcome it will effectively be 1% on a council tax bill to residents. Many services that were non-statutory, and therefore threatened, were maintained by making changes to delivering them cost-neutral. This was behind the decision to keep Pool in the Park open after working with the community group Save Pool in the Park, to test pricing and benchmark against similar facilities in neighbouring towns. The same approach was taken with other non-statutory but important services such as community meals. Also, though reduced, services will continue to be provided by Citizens Advice and Woking Community Transport. Launching a community asset transfer programme for pavilions, and community centres is already proving positive with the Vyne effectively re-opening on the 10^th of April being operated by Dramatise, a fantastic community enterprise.

This all culminated in the first truly legal budget for perhaps a decade being agreed on the 4th March. Naturally, discussions with government on the longer-term plans, required for us to set a medium-term strategy, are ongoing.

The Plan

Simply stated, the plan is for Woking to become a council again. It’s transition from failing investment, and property speculation will take time though. There is an extensive improvement and recovery plan covering finances, commercial, governance, organisational design and, a new priority addition this year, housing. Inevitably, the government intervention will remain in place for a number of years but is proving to be collaborative, constructive, and supportive rather than a burden. If nothing else, it will provide much needed oversight and assurance as plans are implemented.

Your Support

Let me close by thanking you. Though the finance portfolio keeps me busy, I still get time to spend time with the residents of St Johns dealing with all manner of casework including dealing with flooding, traffic calming measures, anti-social behaviour, and keeping up the communications with Network Rail on the replacement footbridge. Rob, Tom, and I enjoy the various litter picks and it is a privilege to be involved in community events in St Johns, and wider Woking.

Though your support has been fantastic, even overwhelming at times, I don’t take it for granted. I would love to continue to represent the residents of St Johns, and I would be very grateful for your renewed support on the 2^nd May.

Thank You.

Dale Roberts

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