Last week, Wokingham Borough Council’s Liberal Democrat administration presented its budget for the coming year. This budget, quite simply, is the culmination of failure. It demonstrated an absence of leadership, responsibility and ambition, didn’t meet the challenges facing us, and ignored the residents we’re here to serve.
The context of this budget is a Labour Government which is slashing Wokingham Borough Council’s funding by £43 million over the next three years. Compare that to the previous Conservative Government, which increased funding by £2.3 million in 2024/25.
The Liberal Democrats’ budget had no ambitious programme for the Borough. Rather than generating an income for services from Council assets, as the Conservatives argued for, fees and charges are going go up above the rate of inflation. Not only are car parking charges increasing again – having more than doubled on the Liberal Democrats’ watch – but other charges like for garden waste are going up by ten per cent.
The Liberal Democrats are plundering the Council’s financial reserves, which will have reduced by £25 million since they have been in power. Meanwhile, administration’s failure to get a grip on major projects not only sees endless delays to delivery, it is also costing money that could be funding services. Take the solar farm. The budget papers clearly set out a best-case scenario is it could bring in £1m this year, but the most likely scenario is an income of zero. The mismanaged Carnival flats development looks like it will be 2 years late and lose £1.3 million, despite being originally expected to generate £1.4 million profit. That is a total loss to Wokingham tax payers of £2.7 million.
Mismanagement of projects and contractors, particularly the farcical situation of roadworks around Wokingham town and the wider Borough is wrecking the livelihoods of business owners already struggling thanks to the anti-car policies of the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives are committed to introducing temporary 1 hour free parking to offset the impact of roadworks, to get people back into our town centres to help our struggling businesses. At the same time, the Liberal Democrats are failing on road repairs and pushing grandiose and unnecessary schemes. A Conservative administration would act to stop residents having to report the same pothole over and over, with no action being taken.
We’ve seen so many times that the Liberal Democrats wilfully ignore residents’ views, whether expressed in consultations, petitions or more. During the Council meeting, the Liberal Democrat Leader told us the Council viewed the most valuable responses as those that were “not general statements of opposition or support”. There you have it -the Liberal Democrats don’t see residents objecting to Council proposals as having any value or relevance.
But the administration also constantly tries to abdicate responsibility. The Executive Member for Finance even tried to present budget proposals at a recent Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting as being from the officers, rather than the ruling Lib Dem group. It’s not the officers’ budget. It’s the Liberal Democrats’ budget.
There is a better way. The Conservatives are ready to form an administration and get Wokingham Borough back on the right track, after 4 years of Liberal Democrat decline and mismanagement. We will be making our case to you that the time has come to choose a fresh start with the Conservatives.
By Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, leader of Wokingham Conservatives
