Latest news with #GuildfordBoroughCouncil
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Is this Britain's most wasteful council?
Every failure is a lesson learnt, unless a local council is involved. In which case, a failure is more likely than not to be seen by its leadership as an opportunity to rehearse unconvincing excuses as they navigate the council towards its next failure, secure in the knowledge that taxpayers will continue to pick up the bill for their salaries and expenses, no matter what. Take Guildford Borough Council, for example. It is a local authority with which campaigners are familiar, as it keeps appearing on our radars for all the wrong reasons. This week, a report revealed that the Council overspent £1.6 million on a fire door replacement scheme for its stock of housing. Originally estimated to cost £2.5 million, the Borough Council had already spent £4.1 million on the fire safety project. According to local media, a further £1.6 million is required to complete the scheme, which would bring the total cost up to £6.5 million. The Leader of the Liberal Democrat-controlled local authority – Cllr Julia McShane – has 'labelled the unexpected cost as a 'slight overspend' but reassured the executive how important fire safety is.' According to local media, '[t]he overspend seems to have stemmed from a failure to properly assess the scale of the work needed before signing the contract in 2022'. Referencing the report investigating the matter, it is also reported that, '[o]fficers relied on incomplete data and so were not fully aware of the sheer number of doors which were non-compliant.' A failure to carry out a proper assessment and relying on incomplete data before embarking on a capital project is a devastating charge for any council to address, but it is particularly so for Guildford. In January, an independent report based on investigations carried out by a law firm into alleged defrauding of multi-million pounds at the Council pointed at a crisis of management, 'known poor governance'. It condemned the senior executives' 'failure to act on red flags' which 'may have given Guildford officers the opportunity to spend significant amounts of money with contractors' to address compliance issues around housing. '[T]his was without having governance and oversight over the issues to ensure good value, or even to confirm what the money and budget were actually being spent on.' The report, as quoted in the local media, is excruciating. 'Officers became aware of a £6.6m overspend on an electrical safety contract (worth £2.4m) in December 2022, yet the contractors were still given a new contract in June 2023. This was not raised as an issue.' And then comes the sucker punch of a revelation: '[o]f the 8,000 transactions of work carried out by the contractor, the council does not know how many were necessary, unnecessary, completed, incomplete or not to a good enough standard. That is for the police to find out in its investigations and report back. It still leaves a huge question mark over how much of the £24.5m budget was spent appropriately.' Did this result in any disciplinary action being taken? No, we are told. Because '[n]one of the people named in the report are still employed at the council'. At the time, the Chief Executive Pedro Wrobel (whose role was reported to be worth £165,000 in 2023) had declared, '[a]ll senior leaders have to be vigilant every day, all the time. That's the accountability that we sign up for and we carry every day.' So what did Mr Wrobel – a career civil servant, with not a day's experience of working in the private sector in his entire career, judging by Mr Wrobel's LinkedIn profile – have to say about the fire safety debacle exposed in July? 'Whilst it is frustrating we did not catch this before breaching the budget, at the very least we caught it very shortly afterwards.' The waste itself is abhorrent, particularly as taxpayers are hit by higher council taxes and crumbling services at the same time. But what is truly chilling is how casually the wider, unholy alliance of career civil servants and career politicians seems to dismiss dismal failures with apparently no regard for the nation at their mercy.
BBC News
21-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Paddling pool in Guildford's Stoke Park reopens after long delays
A paddling pool in Guildford has reopened for the summer holidays, almost two months behind schedule. The pool in Stoke Park was expected to open for the May half-term before it was delayed due to the water being contaminated. Julia McShane, leader of Guildford Borough Council, has now confirmed that the facility reopened on water has proven the latest in a series of issues with the pool, which also opened a month late last year because of staff sickness. Three years ago the pool was forced to shut just days after a £141,000 refurbishment because parents said its floor was too slippery for McShane says that a team of engineers have worked "absolutely flat out" since learning of the problem with water quality."We're absolutely delighted to welcome people back to the paddling pool for the summer holidays... I know how much the pool means to the community," she told BBC Radio Surrey."We're not sure exactly what has caused the problem, but obviously I'm really delighted that we've been able to resolve it at the moment," she added.
BBC News
19-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Guildford could have town council for first time
Guildford could soon have its own town council for the first other areas, the Surrey town relies solely on borough councillors to raise "hyperlocal" issues, the Local Democracy Reporting Service new council could oversee things like town events, public toilets, community grants and local planning agreed, Guildford Town Council would be funded through an increase in council tax for those living under its authority. Roughly £300,000 could be spent in the first year to set up the town council, which would be funded by Guildford Borough the number of councillors and a budget would likely be determined through a public proposed town council would likely include wards such as Onslow, Stoke, Holy Trinity and will be asked whether they want the new council through what is known as a community governance review, but ultimately, Guildford Borough Council would have the final say on whether to establish the new body.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Homes project poses financial risk to council
Funding a 1,650-home development project is still "the biggest financial risk" to a Surrey council as it tries to fill an ever-growing gap in its budget, the authority's chief financial officer says. The Wayside Urban Village (WUV) scheme, led by Guildford Borough Council, could see hundreds of new homes, community buildings, employment space and improved infrastructure built. The £453m project was given outline planning permission in October 2021, but has seen its potential deficit rise from £50m in May 2024, and will have increased with inflation since then. Officers have now outlined various options to plug the funding black hole, with a full decision to be made by the end of July. The sale of council assets is predicted to bring in £20m, while the intended new leisure contract for the Spectrum, Lido and Ash Manor is also hoped to generate funds for WUV. The council's chief financial officer Richard Bates told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the project is "clearly the biggest risk" and still going to be a large financial risk for the council for probably the next 10 years. "We're still going to have to borrow another £180m to get us from A to B," said Mr Bates. He explained the project still has to deal with ongoing inflation, soaring construction costs as well as land and house prices. But he added: "We've got to the stage where we have enough things to take to the council that will help us mitigate the risk of the project as it currently stands." The aim is to squash the deficit to zero before local government reorganisation takes into effect and Guildford council is merged into a mega authority in 2026-27. If Guildford does not cover the gap, there will be an annual impact on the new council's budget and it could have to cut services. Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. New air quality strategy approved by council Leisure operator plan to invest £10m in facilities Views sought on major housing proposal Views sought on housing in Guildford Red flags missed over council overspend - report Guildford Borough Council Local Democracy Reporting Service Sign in to access your portfolio
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Guildford homes project 'poses financial risk' to borough council
Funding a 1,650-home development project is still "the biggest financial risk" to a Surrey council as it tries to fill an ever-growing gap in its budget, the authority's chief financial officer says. The Wayside Urban Village (WUV) scheme, led by Guildford Borough Council, could see hundreds of new homes, community buildings, employment space and improved infrastructure £453m project was given outline planning permission in October 2021, but has seen its potential deficit rise from £50m in May 2024, and will have increased with inflation since have now outlined various options to plug the funding black hole, with a full decision to be made by the end of July. The sale of council assets is predicted to bring in £20m, while the intended new leisure contract for the Spectrum, Lido and Ash Manor is also hoped to generate funds for council's chief financial officer Richard Bates told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the project is "clearly the biggest risk" and still going to be a large financial risk for the council for probably the next 10 years."We're still going to have to borrow another £180m to get us from A to B," said Mr Bates. He explained the project still has to deal with ongoing inflation, soaring construction costs as well as land and house he added: "We've got to the stage where we have enough things to take to the council that will help us mitigate the risk of the project as it currently stands."The aim is to squash the deficit to zero before local government reorganisation takes into effect and Guildford council is merged into a mega authority in 2026-27. If Guildford does not cover the gap, there will be an annual impact on the new council's budget and it could have to cut services.
