THE new leader of the Conservative group on Woking Borough Council has admitted his party's failings in the debt crisis threatening to engulf the council.

In a departure from the Conservatives' party line, Cllr Kevin Davis said: “We obviously appreciate the difficult financial situation the council finds itself in. 

“We acknowledge that previous Conservative administrations up to 2020 didn’t foresee the economic problems presented by the pandemic or fully make adequate provisions to accommodate those unknown risks.”

Until now, the Conservatives have unwaveringly held that the Lib Dems failed to oppose many of the decisions that were taken by previous administrations and so must shoulder every bit as much of the blame.

Cllr Davis was speaking after the Conservatives had opposed the Liberal Democrat proposal for a 3% council tax increase at an Extraordinary Meeting of the council.

At the meeting, the borough’s perilous financial position had been laid out by the ruling Lib Dems, but the Conservative group had significant concerns over how much the proposals might impact the most vulnerable in the borough. 

“What we have sought to do is lessen the impact of these financial challenges on the most vulnerable in Woking,’’ Cllr  Davis added. “We have been unable to convince the Liberal Democrat administration to work with us on this.”

Cllr Steve Dorsett, deputy leader of the group and an often combative critic of the Lib Dem administration, added: “I do have sympathy with the Liberal Democrat administration as it tries to navigate these challenging times. However, we feel the overall package of changes will disproportionately affect those most disadvantaged. 

“I cannot understand why the Labour and Independent councillors refused to vote on this vital matter. I wonder how their residents will feel knowing that when it came to a vote on council tax they sat on their hands.”

Cllr Dale Roberts, the Lib Dem finance portfolio holder, delivered the message that the outlook for the council’s debt crisis was broadly, “If you think this is bad, there’s even worse to come”.

He pointed out that the budget for 2023-24 was set only by using £8.3million of reserves.

“Please don’t take away [from the meeting] any false hope,” Cllr Roberts.  said. “The reality is that a worsening picture is looming. Given the scale of the debt and the over-reliance on commercial income, further cuts are inevitable.

“That means spending cuts. Deep cuts. These decisions will be heart-breaking.”

Council debt is forecast to reach £2.4billion in 2024-25, and Government intervention in some form now seems inevitable.