A SPECIALIST team appointed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has completed its review into Woking Borough Council’s finances, investments and related governance.

Their report will now be submitted to the Minister of State for Local Government, Lee Rowley, for further consideration.

There is no timescale for the review’s findings to be announced.

The council’s soaring debt, forecast to hit £2.4billion by 2024-25, attracted the attention of Kemi Badenoch MP at DLUHC last May, and five months later her worries were echoed in a letter from local government minister Paul Scully, who proposed an external review.

The review team began work in late January.

Woking Borough Council leader, Cllr Ann-Marie Barker,  said: “The DLUHC review has been a positive experience for the council.

“Officers and councillors have worked closely with the review team and look forward to seeing their report published. This is the next step in the borough council’s progress towards financial recovery.”