IF YOU think this is bad, there’s even worse to come.

That was the bombshell message from Cllr Dale Roberts as he presented a bleak assessment of Woking Borough Council’s debt-riddled finances to a sombre Extraordinary Meeting of the council on Thursday evening. Residents watched from the public galleries.

Speaking as finance portfolio holder for the ruling Liberal Democrats, Cllr Roberts split his extensive report broadly into how did we get here, with its “inconvenient truths”, and where do we go from here.

Having seemingly looked under every stone, Cllr Roberts noted “Our finances are in a critical condition”, then set about demonstrating why.

He pointed out, among a far lengthier list, that the budget for 2023-24 was set only by using £8.3million reserves;  a section 114 notice (in practice an admission of council bankruptcy) may still be necessary in the coming months; debt that was out of control, unaffordable and still growing; and that the borough investment portfolio, of some £300 million, was managed without a profit and loss account.

As a resident had pointed out, if the council were a person they would have borrowed £2 million on an income of £10,000 a year.

The journey ahead, Cllr Roberts concluded, would be “challenging”.

“But we have to focus on the destination – and be prepared for obstacles on the way,” he said.

“Please don’t take away any false hope. 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.

“There will be cost control measures usually applied to this level under a section 114. This will be difficult. These decisions will be heart-breaking.

“Our dependence on commercial income has become a liability. What residents need from our town centre has changed, not least because of online shopping and hybrid working.

  “Hoping income from town centre rents would recover to pre-pandemic levels was not a strategy. Instead, we must respond to unknown, and emerging, market trends to restore a predictable level of commercial income.

‘’Providing sufficient cash for [debt] repayments is unaffordable. 

“The final obstacle is that our choices are no longer ours alone to make. The Government intervened in council finances and we have since hosted a Government-appointed review team. 

“They will reach their own conclusions and we will be required to work with those findings and in partnership with the Government.

“Our vision is to transform this council so it is recognised by its residents not for being a failing bank, but for the successful provision of local services.”