'Dysfunctional' Slough council placed under government supervision

Chief executive Josie Wragg is not currently at work, the council said

The government is to intervene in a "dysfunctional" council after two reports revealed a catalogue of failings included rising debts.

Communities minister Kemi Badenoch said Slough Borough Council urgently needed more than £100m to fund services.

She said the reports, from an inspector and finance body CIPFA, "paint a deeply concerning picture of mismanagement".

The council said it was making "large strides in righting the wrongs of our past".

Wi-fi at the council's new £54m headquarters did not work properly, investigators found

The authority is on course for a cumulative budget deficit of at least £174m by 2025, the report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) claimed.

It said the council's "ambitious investment" in property in recent years had resulted in "substantial financial risk" and a rise in borrowing to £760m this year.

The spending included a new £54m council headquarters as well as investments in three leisure centres, an ice rink, affordable housing and commercial properties around the country, it said.

A second report, by former Salford City Council chief executive Jim Taylor, identified "inadequate" governance and failing services.

He said wi-fi at the new headquarters did not work effectively and the council had been temporarily unable to process cheques from residents.

'Very challenging'

Ms Badenoch said the reports revealed "a breakdown in scrutiny and accountability" and a "dysfunctional culture".

She added: "There is little evidence that the council understands the entirety of its commercial investments and their impact on its finances."

The minister said commissioners would oversee the authority for at least three years.

Slough Borough Council said it accepted the reports' findings and the government intervention.

Labour leader James Swindlehurst said: "We are financially in a very challenging place, and we will be asking government for a level of capitalisation direction [borrowing to finance day-to-day spending] which has never before been made by a local authority."

The council said chief executive Josie Wragg was not at work, although it said it could not add further details.