Lib Dems bankrupt West Berkshire Council

Lib Dems seek emergency bailout from central Government
You may well have seen the news that the Liberal Democrats running the Council have asked the Government for an emergency bailout loan of £16m, without which they can’t deliver a balanced budget for 2025-26.

If the Government say ‘no’, it’s almost certain that the Council will have to issue a ‘section 114’ notice, the equivalent of bankruptcy for a local authority. That means the Council can’t make any new spending commitments except for statutory services, and the Government may appoint external commissioners to take control of the Council.

Just 21 months of Liberal administration before bankruptcy
So how did it come to this? It’s worth pointing out that 18 years of successive West Berkshire Conservative administrations kept spending and reserves at sensible levels, at times navigating very difficult financial circumstances, while funding services for our residents.

But it’s taken the Liberals just 21 months to arrive at the brink of bankruptcy.

The Liberals will try to blame others, including the Conservatives
I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Liberal Democrats never accept responsibility for their own actions. It’s always someone else’s fault.

I’m quite certain that the Lib Dem line will be “the Conservatives left us in a financial mess” –don’t believe a word of it. I was the Executive Member for Finance in the 2019-2023. Conservative administration – and we left the Council’s reserves £3.5m higher than in 2019.

For four years the Liberals, including the current Leader of the Council, berated us for our reserves being too high! And every year at the Budget, they proposed amendments to spend more and more of our reserves on typical Lib Dem nonsense.

Social care costs are a huge budget pressure
It’s only fair to recognise that West Berkshire Council, along with many other local authorities across the UK, finds its budget under pressure from the steep rises in demand for social care services and the consequent costs - these are a major factor in the Council’s financial distress.

Liberal recklessness has made the situation even worse
The Council’s financial emergency has been exacerbated by several astonishingly irresponsible decisions made by the Lib Dem administration. Here are just four examples of the Liberals’ profligacy:

1. £500,000 of your money wasted on a temporary pitch for one football team
Since 2023, the Liberal Democrats have spent an incredible half a million pounds on a temporary grass pitch in Newbury, for the benefit of one amateur football team. The pitch can only be used twice a week and can’t be used by the public. This would have been a reckless financial outlay in normal circumstances – given the Council’s precarious financial position, it is an outrage.

2. Fire sale of the Council’s commercial property investments
The Liberal Democrats announced in November 2023 that it intended to sell the Council’s entire commercial property portfolio by 2027. There is nothing more commercially inept than announcing to the market the need to sell all assets with a hard deadline. Within hours the biggest commercial property newsletter in the world was advertising the sell-off on its front page.

This one act of recklessness will likely cost West Berkshire residents millions of pounds in capital receipts which would have reduced the extent of the need for a Government bailout. The Liberals’ negligence even made the national media:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-67571925

https://order-order.com/2023/11/07/lib-dem-council-set-to-lose-millions-in-property-deal-
mess/

Now there is no chance of realising the real value of these assets – making the repayment of the bailout loan even more onerous, and the impact on residents’ services even more severe.

3. Garden Waste Charge election bribe
In their 2023 manifesto, the Liberal Democrats pledged to get rid of the Garden Waste Charge by 2027, which will cost the Council £2m every year from its revenue budget. Even the Green Party said this was reckless!

The Lib Dems knew it was unaffordable when they promised it as an election bribe in 2023. They know it’s even more unaffordable now. They should immediately tell residents the truth that their impossible promise will be broken.

4. Local Plan withdrawal stunt
During the local election campaign, another impossible promise (shock!) came from the Lib Dems – to change the Local Plan which had already been submitted to the Inspector by the Conservatives in 2022.

When they were told by the Inspector (after winning the election, of course) that the Plan couldn’t be amended, they pledged to scrap the whole thing and spend over £2m on a new Plan!

Only central Government intervention put a stop to their desperate stunt, and prevented the Council’s financial position being even worse today.

We’ve offered to help
Our top priority at this time is to work on behalf of our residents to ensure that those in need continue to receive the services they deserve.

It’s very clear – council finances are under pressure everywhere – but West Berkshire residents simply can’t trust the Liberal Democrats to apply good judgment and make the right decisions. The evidence is there for all to see.

So at this critical time for West Berkshire Council, the Conservative Group have made a big, open, and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats – we are willing and able to assist and help them deal with the financial turmoil facing West Berkshire to the fullest extent possible.

They know where to find us...

 Ross Mackinnon - Leader of Conservative Group West Berkshire Council