Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

The South East Councils asked the public which cuts scenarios they were most concerned about. The public did  not express as much concern as the Councils probably hoped in a   number of areas.  On climate change 61% of Councillors wanted increased public transport but only 32% of the public did. Only 17% of the public wanted more EV charging points which are  now making their costly appearance more often.  46% of Councillors wanted more financial assistance for insulating homes but only 32% of the public. Only 14% said they plan to buy or drive an electric vehicle.

In area after area Councillors wanted a higher spending more interventionist model of local government whereas more of the public did not. The survey was a typical one with so many Labour and Lib Dem Councillors on the organisation. It was skewed to wanting more and bigger local government and more spending. There were no reported options to spend less, reduce the number of things Councils do,  to reduce executive and admin staffing levels, and to cut down the number of bogus consultations where Councils then ignore the findings if they do not like them. There was  no option to stop the aggressive spending on removing lanes, reducing flows at junctions, narrowing roads and making it very difficult to drive  to work or school.

The survey did capture people’s frustrations that local government makes important decisions about their lives but the people do not feel part of the process or empowered to stop bad decisions being made. Lib Dem Wokingham is an example of a Council which ignores public opinion after spending a lot on consultant designed schemes and on consultations. It specialises in spending  money on trying to get more people to abandon their cars as it follows its anti motorist agenda.

Please find below the Dear Colleague that I have received from the Government concerning the Pharmacy First Programme.

Please find enclosed below the letter that I have received from the Secretary of State for Transport on how much Wokingham will received for resurfacing roads and filling potholes:

The state of Wokingham’s roads is atrocious. I am getting plenty of complaints about the increased number of potholes and the poor surfaces which have deteriorated badly in the last two years. The  Lib Dems seem to want the roads to  get worse to deter people from driving to work or school.

I have successfully pressed with some other Conservative MPs to make tackling potholes a priority. Wokingham is getting a current baseline sum of 3,314,000 from government each year for road maintenance. The government is also providing an additional £418,000 extra this year and again next year for additional work on potholes. The minimum promised uplift in road money between 2023-4 and 2033-34 will be £13,095,000.

So Wokingham Council, what is your excuse now? This is another increased sum  and new money  the Lib Dems do not want to tell us about. Time to do something with all this extra money.

West Berkshire with more road to maintain gets £5,387,000 as base sum, with a pothole uplift of 679,000 this year and next.

These additional figures summarise some of the various grants Wokingham Borough is getting this year. It does not include the large grant for schools or the funds for special purposes like transport and roads.  It reminds us that there is a grant for social care, a grant for discharge from hospital, and  a Better Care fund grant in response to lobbying for more money for social care beyond the general resources. It also sets out the funding guarantee top up and compensation for business rates as well as the main funding settlement spending capacity.

I have now obtained more of the details of some of the many grants Wokingham Borough gets from the government. The Councillors seem unaware of all this money or want to keep quiet about it.

One of the many pots of cash for local government that Wokingham Borough is keen to raid is the Active travel fund. This is money for cycling and walking that government gives for plans and priorities of the Council”s own choosing. The Lib Dem Council choose badly, favouring schemes which make driving to work, school and the shops increasingly difficult.

In 2022-3 the Council spent £636,000 from these grants, and is negotiating for much more again this year and next. To make better use of these funds they should come up with helpful and popular schemes instead of using the money to attack drivers. It is yet more evidence too that they are in denial about how much the government sends them, always pleading poverty.

I held a meeting with the local government Minister to press the case for more money for social care in Wokingham.  I have received a letter today from Michael Gove to MPs confirming there will be an extra allocation of cash for social care for 2024-5 on top of the general settlement indications. I look forward to receiving the final details of Wokingham’s share of the increased spending pot.