THE FUTURE of the old Wokingham Library remains unclear as the council undertakes a review of its portfolio as part of a cost-saving review.
A combination of responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, rising inflation and reduced government funding means that, like most local authorities across the country, Wokingham Borough Council is having to look at every aspect of its finances in order to balances its books.
Over the past six years, it has made £29million of savings and efficiencies, a real-terms reduction of 34% since austerity measures began in 2010. This has included reduced staffing costs during a programme, called 21st Century Council.
But even with these measures, the council still needs to find £4 million of savings over the next financial year to help produce a balanced budget and ensure essential services can continue to run, including adult social care and support for children. This is why the council has been looking at reducing the frequency of bin collections, and increasing the cost of parking.
Now, it is looking at its estate to see what can be changed.
One of the first measures to be announced is to relocate staff working in the Shute End offices, closing the top two floors and instead letting them work on the lower ground and ground floors of the buildings. This will save money on heating and lighting.
Other parts of the portfolio, including the former library site in Denmark Street, are being reviewed.
Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey, executive member for finance said, “We need to find significant savings over the next three years. We are currently facing huge financial challenges while still fulfilling our duty of care to all our residents. This comes at a time when our residents need us the most. Please be assured that we intend to do all we can to support those who need our help the most, but that means we cannot just carry on as we are.
“Considerable work has been undertaken already by the council’s budget managers, senior officers and corporate leadership team working with executive members to consider alternative and additional ways to bridge the revenue budget gap.
“We are committed to ensuring this council is working efficiently as possible across all departments while continuing to keep all our residents safe.”
At a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council, on Thursday, November 17, Cllr Rachel Bishop-Firth said that, in the short-term, the library would be used by the Hardship Alliance as storage space for items that will be shared with residents who need support over the winter months, including warm clothing and slow cookers.
But the long-term future has yet to be announced.
Leader of the council, Cllr Clive Jones, told Wokingham Today: “In the short term it is being used for storage, while we look at all assets the council has. We will repurpose some, and dispose of others.
“Having council staff move out of the upper floors of Shute End will save on heating and business rates, quite a few thousand pounds – and we can do something with that extra space.”
He intended to make any changes to the way in which the council operates in a measured and organised manner, and that included with personnel.
“(At the council meeting) the Conservatives complained about job adverts. You can’t have a blanket recruitment freeze, it’s never the right way to run a large organisation, especially one still recovering from 21st Century Council, where the Conservatives got rid of lots of posts and experienced staff. It has taken years to recover from that – they realised that was a mistake.
“We will look at how we can reorganise to avoid having to take on new staff, and we are looking at everything.”
He added: “This is all a direct result of government policies. Wokingham is starved of cash by the government and has been for far too long. That didn’t change in the autumn statement.
“The Conservatives keep saving inflation is a worldwide problem, but ours is made even work by the Truss budget and Brexit. Just look at the value of the pound. On the day we voted to leave it was worth £1.50 to $1. It’s now about £1.10, but it did drop to £1.04.
“It means everything UK businesses buy is 20% more expensive than it would have been.
“We have to rebalance our relationship with Europe and start working together again.”
