It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Labour Government is intent on starving councils such as Wokingham of funding. They have already announced that funding in Wokingham Borough will be cut by £43 million over three years. Deep cuts, combined with ever‑growing demands from Whitehall, make it increasingly difficult to balance the books. To achieve a balanced budget, the Council must now focus ruthlessly on statutory duties and on the services and changes which residents genuinely value.
At the same time, the Lib Dems continue to launch grand projects while failing to control spending. A recent example is their motion at the last full council meeting to provide free English‑language training as a universal right. This went far beyond my motion last year, which focused specifically on Hong Kong families to help them integrate. The Lib Dem proposal extended training to all immigrant residents with limited English, regardless of origin. We attempted to amend their motion by requiring the Council to seek that Labour restore Government funding for tailored language learning under the Adult Skills Fund (cut last year) and to exclude illegal immigrants who have no recourse to public funds. Lib Dem and Labour councillors objected strongly, insisting local taxpayers should pay. Teaching illegal immigrants English is clearly a Home Office responsibility, not a local one. Yet the same administration claims it cannot maintain local play parks due to lack of money.
Lib Dems also waste money commissioning consultations they then ignore, from imposing 20mph limits on Woodland Avenue despite 69% of residents opposing them, to removing litter bins only to reinstate them after public backlash. They squander further funds by dragging out essential projects for years. The Shinfield Road crossing is a prime example, repeatedly dismissed by successive Lib Dem Executive members as unnecessary, only for them to eventually concede it was needed and finally begin implementation after four years of delay.
Another example is the Lib Dem U‑turn on local government reorganisation. They previously opposed Labour’s plan for a directly elected mayor and appointed cabinet covering large parts of the Thames Valley. Suddenly, they now support it and are committing public money to develop the scheme. Residents deserve a say in how their money is spent, and adding another costly tier of remote government is not the way to protect local priorities. Berkshire County Council was abolished precisely because it focused on big towns like Reading and spent the bulk of taxpayers’ money there. This proposal risks repeating that same mistake.
For an administration that constantly claims to be underfunded, the Lib Dems appear increasingly unable to prioritise what residents want or to deliver those services with any sense of urgency or competence.
By Cllr Pauline Jorgensen
