Councils do not always get a good press or command the affection of the people they are there to serve. But they can be a great force for good in the local community.
In my experience, both councillors and council officers enter local government because they want to make a positive difference. There is an almost universal ambition to improve life for residents and create conditions in which local businesses can thrive.
That ambition is in practice often tempered by a lack of freedom to achieve all that we want to do.
Wokingham, like all councils, works within a constrained environment, with the rules set by others and decision-making in some areas outside council control.
School admissions, for instance, are now largely dependent on working closely with academy trusts, which run most of our schools.
The planning system is another example of the council’s limited ability to determine outcomes. While we have local planning policies, the government ultimately decides on the number of new dwellings we must approve. Even local refusals of planning permission can be overturned by government planning inspectors.
But the most obvious external constraint on what we can do is financial. For many years, Wokingham has received less core revenue support from central government than any other English council that provides adult and children’s social care (which account for the lion’s share of our total revenue spending).
Even so, councils can – and do – a lot to help their communities, especially if they have the courage to think long term rather than just pursue short-term popularity.
In Wokingham Borough over the last two years, despite the financial constraints, a lot has been achieved to pave the way for a better tomorrow.
We have, for example:
acquired a new care home for the frail elderly, which will provide a more affordable option for our residents
expanded greatly the number of places available in the borough for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
secured a connection to the grid for a new Solar Farm at Barkham, which when it is fully operational from 2026 will generate a revenue for the council to use to help run services
forged a strategic partnership with the University of Reading, which enables us to call on the latest research to help us with our climate emergency work and our employment and skills agenda
joined with the other Berkshire councils to form the Berkshire Prosperity Board, which will help us to bid more successfully for government funding for major infrastructure projects
worked with key stakeholders in the borough to produce a jointly authored Community Vision, which sets out or collective aspirations for the years ahead, and which the council will use to shape its strategies and plans
I could mention many more positives, but the main point to emphasize is that, in everything we do, we are trying to lay the foundations for a better future for our borough and its residents and businesses.
Stephen Conway is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council
