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 […]

A TWO PART DECISION On Monday, 4th March, the council considered the second part of the 2024/25 budget. The first, in February, focused on budget savings, the housing revenue account, and the capital programme. The second with the treatment of council debt, exceptional financial support, and council tax. I could not attend the second meeting, […]

The debate at Woking Debates, held in the United Reform Church, on 27th Jan 2024 was: “How is Woking Borough Council going to protect vulnerable residents from the forthcoming cuts?” My response to that question outlined the work being done by officers, the executive, and local councillors to rescue services wherever they can. Unpacking the […]

A YEAR IN COUNCIL Crumbs, a lot has happened this year even if we assume it began in May with ‘Mayor Making’ a ceremony that welcomes in the new Mayor and thanks outgoing Councillors. WARMING UP There was none of the usual warm-up to ‘proper’ council business, no opportunity for new councillors to familiarise themselves […]

The finance portfolio holders speech at the extraordinary council meeting held on the 20th June 2023. Full meeting here. When organisations fail us. When organisations fail us, we have two questions. Why did it happen? Why will it not happen again? Why it happened. To understand why it happened. I will share the words of […]

What do we mean by fairer taxes?Governments tend to think of taxes as revenue. Indeed it’s 90% of government income which in turn pays for services such as health, education, roads. To us as individuals they are perhaps a cost. One of the two profound inevitabilities. Taxes are also incentives for those things we regard […]

Question “Woking’s Finances – How painful will recovery be?” Introduction I have been involved in several turnaround situations in my private sector career. The causes are surprisingly common and then there are usually two key ways to turn them around.   Save your way out or sell your way out. My experience has been that selling your […]

Extraordinary Council and the Medium Term Financial Strategy for Woking Borough Council 2023 Introduction I became a Councillor two years ago, the Finance Portfolio Holder less than a year ago. It has been an extraordinarily steep learning curve. I am grateful to my colleagues on the Executive, to Council Officers, and to Mrs Clark, for […]

Moyallen and the Peacocks Centre The news that Peacock centre owner, Moyallen Woking Ltd, are going into administration just ahead of local elections has refocused everyone on borough finances with Liberal Democrats highlighting the risks and Conservatives counter-claiming pre-electoral scaremongering. Rinse and repeatThis has been a repeating pattern since the opposition teams started drilling into […]

Another £500m on a nota bene Woking holds the third largest debt balance of local authorities across the UK whilst by population we rank 240th in a little over 300. In the February council meeting we were asked to approve more borrowing, by way of an appendix of indicators, of up to £2.4B by 2025/26 […]