By Stephen Conway
When the Liberal Democrats formed a minority administration at Wokingham Borough Council in May 2022, we inherited a difficult financial situation.
The previous Conservative administration’s recent budget had taken £2.3 million from the council’s reserves to balance the books. It had allowed the schools grant to be seriously overspent, endangering the council’s medium-term financial viability.
It had earmarked no money for bus subsidies from September 2022, and had allocated no funds to cover a £3.2 million overspend on the Winnersh Park and Ride.
To be fair, in February 2022, when the previous administration set its budget, the financial situation was far from easy. The leader of council at that time said that the reserves were for a rainy day and that day had come.
But if it was raining then, we face a storm of tropical intensity now.
Inflation rose to double digits in the course of 2022, demand for statutory services, especially Children’s Services, increased significantly, income streams identified in the 2022 budget proved overly optimistic, and of course interest rates shot up after the disastrous Truss/Kwarteng mini-budget of September 2022.
As Wokingham Today reported last week, as a result of all this, we have to find £11.8 million-worth of savings or income generation over this financial year.
The recent modest fall in the headline inflation rate may suggest a lessening of the challenge, but inflation in some of our costs is much higher than the headline figure and continues to impose considerable pressure on the council’s finances.
It’s worth noting that many councils that receive more funding from central government than Wokingham (which is the lowest funded, per head of population, in England) have gone under or are perilously close to doing so. The list of these councils shows them to be of all political complexions. Councils across the land are struggling in a more challenging financial environment than anyone can remember.
As your borough council tries to play the very poor hand that fate has dealt it, all councillors should recognise the seriousness of the challenge we collectively face.
I appreciate that opposition politicians may be tempted to try to take advantage of the council’s financial position and oppose every proposed saving. That’s politics.
If the opposition choose the path of obstructionism and delay, so be it. We will not be deterred from doing our duty to protect the council’s finances – as a wise former opposition councillor once said, a broke council can’t serve the people.
But, given the gravity of the situation, I hope the opposition will take the high road of responsibility rather than the low road of opportunism.
I will continue to try to work with the opposition in the interests of the borough and its residents. I hope the opposition responds positively and responsibly to these overtures. Now, more than ever, we need a grown-up form of politics.
Cllr Stephen Conway is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council and ward member for Twyford
