Woking Borough Council's plan to set first balanced budget in a decade

Woking Borough Council effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023

Woking councillors say they plan to pass the authority's first "truly balanced budget in a decade" following a £785m bailout.

The borough council will get the central government money if higher fees, service cuts and a council tax increase are agreed.

The budget for the coming financial year will be voted on by the full council on Monday.

Woking effectively declared itself bankrupt in June with £2bn of debt.

The deputy leader of the council, Will Forster, said: "The Liberal Democrats running Woking Borough Council have proposed the authority's first truly balanced budget in a decade that helps the council recover from the effective bankruptcy they inherited.

"The draft budget delivers significant savings, over £8m, yet mitigates their worst impact.

"It secures exceptional financial support worth £785m from the government, as well as identifying transformational funding, initiating community solutions and will quadruple investment in social housing."

He said as part of the support from government, the council had been asked to increase its share of council tax by 10%, equivalent to 50p per week on the average band D property.

In Surrey's two-tier system, council tax paid by residents is split between the county council, the district and borough councils and the police and crime commissioner.

The support package comes in several pots including £454m for the servicing of Woking's debt and £331m in "capitalisation directives" where a council can move money between its long-term and day-to-day budgets.

The council will also be given money to turn around it's "currently negative" reserves, or savings, with a view to this acting as a buffer in future years.

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