As we come close to the year’s end, it’s time to reflect on the challenges and the achievements of the past twelve months.
With rising demand for services and rising costs in delivering them, an alarming number of councils have become insolvent in 2024, and many more are perilously close to being so.
Wokingham’s historically low level of core revenue support from central government has obliged us to make the very most of the limited resources we have.
Our good stewardship has been recognized by the consultancy Impower, which has ranked Wokingham fifth out of the 151 councils providing adult and children’s social care in terms of outcomes delivered per pounds spent.
A clear focus on financial management has been imperative in these challenging times, but we have not sought merely to survive. We have advanced on many fronts.
Over the last year we have
adopted a Community Vision, based on joint working with external partners in the voluntary and charitable sector, business, faith groups, health providers, educators, including the university of Reading, and the Youth Council – a great example of working with and empowering our community, the Vision establishes the broad strategic priorities for the council over the next ten years
developed our partnership with the University of Reading, which is helping us with our Climate Emergency work, our education and skills agenda, business support, and arts and culture
helped to create a Berkshire Prosperity Board, which will enable the six Berkshire top tier councils to bid for external funding for cross-border infrastructure projects and Affordable Housing schemes; we already have some successes that are helping in Wokingham
promoted a truly cross-council approach to prevention, early intervention, and invest-to-save to help reduce costs downstream – a good example is repurposing some of our unused commercial properties to increase our temporary accommodation to help those made homeless, saving us considerable sums of money in expensive emergency placements in bed and breakfast accommodation, and providing more stability and security for the families involved
opened a new care home for the elderly to increase more reasonably priced provision
increased provision for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) pupils, by opening new SEND units in mainstream schools, and working to secure the delivery of two new SEND schools in the south of the borough
agreed a local plan that puts us on the pathway to security against speculative planning applications that we want to refuse; protects more than 100 Local Green Spaces; creates 13 much larger Areas of Landscape Value, where development is controlled; includes policies to secure the highest levels of energy efficiency in new homes and commercial buildings; secures 40% Affordable Housing on new major development sites and a new threshold of five dwellings to trigger and Affordable Housing contribution; delivers a new secondary school in the south of the borough, where it is most needed; and will allow the creation of a new country park
There are many more achievements that I could list, but this gives you a flavour of the difference we have been able to make, even in a very difficult financial environment.
Next year is likely to present even more financial challenges, but we will continue to be ambitious for the borough as well as being prudent in how we use the resources we have.
Cllr Stephen Conway is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council
