STATE OF THE NATION - The Green Party will have to work much harder if they are going to form an alliance with the Libdems in any general election. The results for the Greens in Wealden were staggering, as were the losses for the Conservatives with shamed leader Boris Johnson at the helm, lying to Parliament, lying to Queen Elizabeth and Lying to the electorate during his Big Red Bus campaign. How then was he voted in as Prime Minister, when so untrustworthy and demonstrably unreliable. Presumably, because of the under the table deals he was prepared to do. Covid fast track procurement fraud and cash for honours. When, in reality, he did not have a clue how to run the country, except to keep on borrowing, and building executive housing, so that the homeless, remained homeless, and the renting generation became extended to the next generation of slaves, to row Great Britain into yet more choppy water. With King Charles also coming under fire for his empty properties in a housing and cost of living crisis. The backbone of a nation is it's workforce. Those who physically carry the country forward with skills and services the ruling class shy from. It makes sense to reward workers with reasonable living conditions and equitable rewards. Not to enslave or shackle to the oars of financial servitude. To render them Galley Slaves, to the economic frauds so rampant in the UK.

16 JUNE - BANKRUPT WOKING BOROUGH COUNCIL WILL CONTINUE TO OPERATE - REPORT

A review into how Woking Borough Council fell into bankruptcy has found it borrowed £160m for purposes outside regulations and had "sub-optimal record keeping."

Key findings were published ahead of a council executive meeting on Thursday.

A council report said the authority would continue to operate, but with financial controls.

Documents said the council would continue to pay staff and deliver statutory services.

Last week, the authority revealed its debts were set to hit £2.6bn and issued a Section 114 notice which halted all spending on non-essential services.

Interim finance director Brendan Arnold wrote: "Local authorities however cannot go into administration or liquidation as they are backed by taxation and government.

"This means that all creditors are secured, contracts in flight are secure and the council will continue to pay staff and deliver its statutory services, particularly services to the vulnerable and homeless."

Key findings revealed the council had:

- A weak financial control environment

- Sub-optimal record keeping

- Weak management review processes

- Weak understanding of accounting guidance

- Weak understanding of statutory requirements in respect of accounting arrangements

- Insufficient resources generally to manage successfully the scale and complexity of the company structures, assets and liabilities that had been brought into existence by the council over many years

- The absence of external audit opinions on the council's accounts since 2018-19

It was also revealed that the council had underpaid minimum debt provision for 15 years. [Living on credit that cannot be repaid, like our National Debt]

Mr Arnold said the authority had passed the majority of its £1.3bn loans from the Public Works Loans Board to its various companies, principally Victoria Square Woking Ltd and Thameswey Group Ltd.

But while most loans were correctly for capital purposes, a significant proportion - up to £160m - was likely to have been used to fund revenue expenses, which was not in line with regulations.

The ThamesWey and Victoria Square schemes saw the council borrow to build skyscrapers in the town centre and replace hundreds of homes on the Sheerwater estate.

Council chief executive Julie Fisher wrote: "There is no prospect that the council will balance its budget in 2023-24, 2024-25 or the successive years without external intervention on a very large scale."

She said the council would "require significant financial support from government". [Where has the money gone. Follow the breadcrumbs to find the culprits. We think in such circumstances, where the whole council is culpable, that the officers and members that allowed this to happed, should be required to pay those sums back (means tested proportionally), for failing to apply the correct controls. In the meantime, they should be disenfranchised. And if required, those found to be guilty of Fraud, under the 2006 Act, should be prosecuted. They can work off their community penances from their prison cells. (working from home as it were) Councillors in the mix at present should not be allowed to stand for 5 years. And civil servants convicted of procurement fraud should be banned for life from holding a public position of trust.]

Councillors will vote on recommendations next Tuesday.

BBC NEWS 7 JUNE 2023 WOKING BOROUGH COUNCIL BANS NEW SPENDING DUE TO £2BN DEBT

Woking Borough Council has imposed emergency spending restrictions on itself due to its £2bn debt.

All spending for non-essential services has been halted after the Section 114 notice was issued, the council said.

Its chief executive said the full impact on residents is not yet clear, but the restrictions reflect the "scale and breadth of the acute financial situation facing the council".

The Surrey local authority's debt is forecasted to rise to £2.6bn.

The deficit increased dramatically following an investment strategy which saw the council borrow hundreds of millions of pounds for regeneration projects.

The most high profile was the Victoria Square development in Woking town, which was based on £750m of borrowing. Reports showed the project was worth just £200m. [Raising the prospect of procurement fraud, so very tempting with such large sums being bandied about.]

'DIFFICULT DECISIONS'

The Section 114 notice comes three weeks after government-appointed commissioners were sent in over the "exceptional level of financial and commercial risk" the authority exposed itself to.

The council's chief executive Julie Fisher said: "The issuing of a Section 114 notice is a very serious matter that rightly reflects the scale and breadth of the acute financial situation facing the council. [What a shock, but surely as the CE, she knew her council's spending was ill conceived?]

"Following the secretary of state's appointment of a commissioning team, I will be seeking their expertise and using their critical insight to help the council deliver an improvement and recovery plan at pace to ensure we take actions that are in the interests of the public purse."

The only exceptions to the spending restrictions are in cases where the council must legally protect vulnerable people and for services it must cover by law.

Woking Borough Council leader Ann-Marie Barker said the notice makes clear the "true scale" of the challenges faced by the authority.

"Difficult decisions will lie ahead as we seek to balance the council's budget and address the unaffordable debt," she said. By Christian Fuller & Chris Caulfield

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The NHS is set to implement a change from May 15, it has been confirmed, weeks after it was announced that the 8am appointment scramble would be scrapped.

PUBLIC FOOTPATHS - Essential for healthy living, is space to roam and experience nature. This is one of the well trodden footpaths in the field adjacent to the old Generating Station at Herstmonceux. Why would anyone want to build on this? Money! Why would anyone allow buildings on this? Greed!