The government has appointed a fourth commissioner and named Sir Tony Redmond as the new leader of government intervention at Woking Borough Council.
In May 2023, levelling up secretary Michael Gove announced government intervention at Woking due to the “exceptional level” of financial and commercial risk that the authority had exposed itself to. Shortly after this, the council was issued with a section 114 notice as it faced an “unbridgeable” £1.2bn funding deficit.
In a written ministerial statement today (13 December), local government minister Simon Hoare stated that following the publication of the second commissioners’ report and the resignation of its chief executive (Julie Fisher), Woking’s financial challenges remain “stark”.
Therefore, the government has decided to increase the capacity of the commissioner team by appointing Richard Carr as the managing director commissioner, Hoare explained.
Carr has 25 years of experience in local government and will provide Woking with strategic direction and leadership until a permanent chief executive has been appointed.
Alongside this, Hoare announced the appointment of Sir Tony Redmond as Woking’s new lead commissioner. Redmond replaces Jim Taylor who stepped down from his role due to personal reasons.
“Sir Tony is a respected figure with a long career in local government and is currently chair of the Nottingham City Council’s Improvement and Assurance Board. He will focus on finding longer-term solutions for Woking and promote a clear strategic direction for the council.
“The next phase of improvement is critical and we are grateful to Sir Tony for bringing his expertise and experience to lead that change,” Hoare said.
Woking in ‘vulnerable position’
In his ministerial statement, Hoare outlined that the second commissioners’ report (published 13 December) showed that Woking had made “limited progress” on areas identified in the commissioners’ first report, such as addressing the authority’s increasing projected overspend.
“In their second report, the commissioners continue to paint a stark picture of the challenges, noting that the council ‘remains in an extremely vulnerable position due to its overhanging debt and historical lack of rigour in its commercial activity’,” he wrote.
Hoare added that the second report comes at a key point for the council’s improvement, with the coming months requiring Woking to manage the converging pressures of setting a balanced budget and preparing for local elections.
“We will keep the intervention under review to determine whether further changes are needed given the challenging weeks and months ahead,” he continued.
Alongside appointing a fourth commissioner at Woking, Hoare also announced the expansion of intervention at Nottingham and announced that the government is “minded to” make changes to the existing directions at Liverpool.
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