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Conservative Councillor Says Collaboration with Waverley ‘Going Badly’

Published on: 13 Jun, 2024
Updated on: 15 Jun, 2024

By Chris Caulfield

local democracy reporter

The tie-up between Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils focused “almost exclusively on savings to the exclusion of improvement in services and outcomes for the public”.

The damning verdict was not from political opponents but its own council-commissioned review into how it failed residents.

The report, carried out by the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), examined its governance and housing teams – as well as the steps to fix itself.

It found that weak governance and poor scrutiny at Guildford Borough Council created a ‘quick fix culture’ that allowed potentially millions of pounds to be defrauded at the expense of vulnerable housing tenants.

It was commissioned to examine how millions of pounds were lost in Guildford Borough Council’s housing department in a suspected fraud and how the culture at the council created an environment where budgets were able to skyrocket and pushed the authority towards bankruptcy.

It covered an overview of the stages that lead to an arrest, two council staff members being suspended, and five agency workers having their contracts terminated. The fraud investigation has since been escalated to a regional organised crime unit earlier this year.

Among the findings, the report also found significant issues with how Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils work together:

Senior managers are working to deliver the priorities of two councils which have different policies, procedures, staff teams and systems of every kind.

Cllr Julia McShane

The severity of the issues is exacerbated by the lack of clarity about the council’s priorities and the poor quality of service and financial planning systems.

Senior managers are very stretched and cannot operate efficiently.

Leaders at Guildford apologised unreservedly at the time and pointed the Local Democracy Reporting Service to its original press release when leader of the council Julia McShane said she acknowledged the findings of these reports and accepted all the recommendations in full.

Opposition member Cllr Bob Hughes, however, said the failure was easily predicted, could have been avoided and that residents should have been given a say.

The report said the merger, which covered the top three tiers of management, failed residents because its primary function was to save money rather than what was best for the public or services.

It said this left the 16 senior officers over-stretched and needed “additional corporate capacity” to avoid failing.

The report read: “In circumstances where one or other authority was not at risk of failing their Best Value duties, this level of resource would probably be sufficient.

“However, as this report states clearly, this is not the case in respect of Guildford Borough Council and is, therefore, a significant risk.”

Further down the chain the review found shortcomings in how some services were delivered.

Generic back-office teams at the two councils work in “very different” ways which must be “resolved when planning the joining up of services and staffing structures between the two councils”.

This will take up more senior officer time.

The appetite to continue pushing forward with the partnership’s development had “lost momentum” for a number of reasons, including the risk of Guildford Borough Council going bankrupt, and the serious issues in the housing service at Guildford.

It read: “These are credible explanations. However, the review team considers that some other issues are of significance.

“In particular, the council’s ambition for the partnership is too narrow, focusing almost exclusively on savings to the exclusion of improvement in services and outcomes for the public.”

It added: “All senior managers are working to deliver the priorities of two councils which have different policies, procedures, staff teams and systems of every kind.

“The severity of the issues is exacerbated by the lack of clarity about the council’s priorities and the poor quality of service and financial planning systems.

“Consequently, senior managers are very stretched and cannot operate efficiently. This issue needs to be addressed quickly.

“If it isn’t, significant risks of various kinds will develop, e.g. delays in the realisation of benefits, frustration with this and difficulties in recruiting and retaining senior staff.”

The report added: “During the SOLACE interviews there was little consistency regarding the staff consultation process before entering into the partnership with Waverley.

“Some of those interviewed mentioned that they had been consulted prior to the arrangements being put in place, whereas others mentioned that they had not been aware of the arrangements until the press announcements.”

Bob Hughes

Cllr Bob Hughes (Con, Tillingbourne) said: “It’s going badly, it’s not saving money and it’s virtually impossible for either councillors, or parish councillors, to get hold of officers to get a response.

“It takes forever and the services are going down.

“If they had a plan they could have put it to people to know if that’s what people want and they could have followed it.”

He added: “There was no consultation, no business plan, no idea where the savings would be coming from, if indeed there were any, and because there was no plan they were set up to run the council.

“In theory there is nothing wrong with having combined offices provided they have the back up.

“I’m not sure what back up the senior officers have got but certainly the system isn’t working.

“People can’t get answers and sometimes these things are sensitive and urgent.”

Council leader Julia McShane (Lib Dem, Westborough) said: “The Liberal Democrats commissioned the Solace reports and published the recommendations as well as the action plan to put things right, back in early May.

“The Conservatives are desperate to divert attention away from years of Conservative government funding cuts to local authorities like Guildford Borough Council.
“The disastrous Truss budget, which caused painfully high inflation and rocketing interest rates for everyone, has negatively impacted council finances across the country resulting in the need for many councils to work in partnership to save money and protect public services.  The Conservatives offer nothing positive or realistic as a solution to the problems they have caused, preferring to carp from the sidelines.
“It is only the Liberal Democrats in Guildford that can fix these problems created by the Conservatives, and that’s what we are doing.”

 

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Responses to Conservative Councillor Says Collaboration with Waverley ‘Going Badly’

  1. Philip Brooker Reply

    June 13, 2024 at 8:24 pm

    Oh dear oh dear. The statement concluding this report by the Liberal Democrat leader of the Council, councillor McShane is a cheap-shot, and unworthy of her position

    This is a local issue and to try to blame central government, including her own Liberal Democrat party who were in Government during the alleged austerity years is ironic beyond belief, and demonstrates an own-goal of classic proportions.

    The independent SOLACE report found “that weak governance and poor scrutiny at Guildford Borough Council created a ‘quick fix culture’ that allowed potentially millions of pounds to be defrauded at the expense of vulnerable housing tenants”. That is nothing to do with central government, and all to do with local Liberal Democrat incompetence.

    Philip Brooker is the leader of the Conservative group atGuildfordford Borough Council.

  2. Harry Eve Reply

    June 14, 2024 at 8:33 am

    “If they had a plan they could have put it to people to know if that’s what people want and they could have followed it…”. So, the Guildford Conservatives had a Local Plan and they did “put it to the people” but then they completely ignored them and went ahead with it anyway just before switching off the lights and heading for the exit in the local elections in 2019.

  3. Wayne Smith Reply

    June 14, 2024 at 4:37 pm

    I’m no fan of our local Conservatives but I don’t think it was them that overstated GBC finances by a £10 milliomn accounting error and presided over a £17 million Housing Revenue Account contract overspend! Cllr McShane is fixing problems for which she’s accountable!

  4. David Roberts Reply

    June 14, 2024 at 5:44 pm

    How is Cllr Bob Hughes’s own plan going? I recall that this was to include Send in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Preposterous? Of course. But it helped get him elected to the county council with a margin of just over 80 votes, as The Dragon archive will verify.

    I hope that the the general election will mark a decisive public turning-away from populist lies in politics, both national and local.

  5. Peter Hyde Reply

    June 16, 2024 at 12:09 pm

    “Senior managers are working to deliver the priorities of two councils which have different policies, procedures, staff teams and systems of every kind.”

    When will anyone realise that the sharing of top management is beneficial to neither council? It may save some costs but it significantly reduces the effectiveness of the management of both local authorities.

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