So, who will be made accountable?
The long-awaited independent audit report into how Woking Borough Council went bust has been published. The local government minister said Woking, BC, still faces
“lots of obstacles,”
A public interest report into Woking Borough Council’s governance arrangements regarding past investment decisions and strategy includes the following.
Read the Grant Thornton report.
The report, compiled by independent external auditors Grant Thornton, highlights historic shortcomings in the council’s financial, governance, and legal arrangements dating back decades. It concludes that the council failed to ensure ‘best value’ during that time due to a lack of financial control, risk management, and effective governance arrangements.
This led to unsustainable borrowing and a legacy of extraordinarily high and disproportionate debt levels.
The report found that key senior officers failed to fulfil their statutory duties during the period investigated. All the individuals concerned have since left Woking Borough Council.
The Conservatives controlled the council from 2011 to 2019, but there was no overall control from 2019 to 2022, and the Lib Dems now control it.
Cllr Ann-Marie Barker, Leader of Woking Borough Council, said:
“Since my administration gained control of Woking Borough Council in May 2022, we have been focused on tackling the severe financial challenges inherited from the previous administration.
“I welcome publication of Grant Thornton’s Value for Money review into governance arrangements relating to historic investment decisions. It represents a pivotal moment in understanding the decisions and actions of the past that have significantly contributed to the financial challenges we face today.
“It is important that my administration, commissioners and senior officers are given time to carefully consider the report’s findings, recommendations and implications before formally responding.
“In accordance with statutory requirements, an Extraordinary Council Meeting will be held on Wednesday 20 November to allow councillors to consider the report’s findings and recommendations before outlining a clear path forward.”
Sir Tony Redmond, Lead Commissioner for the government-appointed team overseeing Woking Borough Council, thanked Grant Thornton for producing this comprehensive report. Its thorough and independent examination has provided Woking Borough Council with crucial insights into the historic decisions that have led to a legacy of exceptionally high and disproportionate debt levels.
“The Commissioner Team will study the report’s findings in detail and work closely with the council to ensure that the lessons from the past are fully reflected in the way Woking operates in the future.”
Alongside the publication of the public interest report, and in the interests of transparency, the council has published confidential Executive and Council Part 2 reports and documents dating back to 2016 and 2022.
Part 2 documents are confidential, often because they contain commercially sensitive information, as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.
An Extraordinary Council Meeting was held on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, during which councillors considered the findings. The meeting was webcast live(the link is external).
Woking Borough Council’s bankruptcy has been disastrous for public services in the town as it seeks to rebalance its books.
Forensic accountant Grant Thornton was engaged after the local authority went bust with debts set to hit £2.6 billion in June 2023.
The council borrowed heavily from the Public Works Loan Board for investment and regeneration projects such as Victoria Square and Sheerwater.
Auditors were tasked with investigating the council’s leadership and culture when critical decisions led to its eventual financial collapse.
The value-for-money review of the governance of the council’s investment decisions will include how those decisions were scrutinised.
All those named in the report have seen extracts relating directly to them.
The council will publish reports dating back to 2016 that were previously marked confidential.
The council has worked with government-appointed commissioners to implement drastic spending cuts to lower its annual outgoings. These have included substantial job cuts, slashed popular services, and 10 per cent council tax rises that will be felt for years.
The council has been told that additional government support will depend on it, proving it has taken all steps to cut costs. It restricts all new spending except protecting vulnerable people, statutory services, and pre-existing commitments.
Non-statutory services include leisure, public toilets and community grant funding.
One has to ask, were Grant Thornton Wokings auditors? The same Grant Thornton who thought the fraud perpetrated, and covered up by the previous Tory administration, was a mere rounding up error not noteworthy enough to be mentioned in the annual accounts?
Surely whoever were the external auditors of Wokings annual accounts have some responsibility for lack of any real oversight?
WW thought exactly the same and well -remember Grant Thornton’s cover up! “Don’t mention the Fraud’
I hope that Waverley BC will learn from the report on Woking and refrain from speculative property investments. Please, no more M &Co type fund draining projects.
Perhaps rather than having a go at Waverley’s investments you should take a look at Surrey County Councils.
It appears all the internal auditors Mazars, BDO etc did not dig deep enough alongside external auditors KPMG
Risk management policy is absolutely paramount in local government finances.
It’s not the auditors who look at the accounts after the decisions have been made but the bad decisions of the Councils which need to be questioned. It’s the Councils who should ensure that they have professional financial assessments and risk management policies.