Letter: No One Left at GBC is Taking Responsibility

Published on: 24 Jan, 2025
Updated on: 24 Jan, 2025

From Sue Hackman

Labour campaigner

The council’s press release announces the report in low key terms and mentions nothing about its contents. That’s because there’s nothing in it to be proud of.

Only a police investigation will tell us if deliberate criminal activity was involved. The report makes clear that that is very possible. What is certain is that the disaster was assisted by complacency among officials, a lack of scrutiny and a “just do it” culture.

Even the testimonies in the report give the reader a flavour of the haphazard management and disengagement which characterised Guildford’s decision-making process at the time. No-one felt responsible at the time; no-one directly involved feels responsible now. There you have it: the perfect context for inefficiency, overspend, and even, possibly, fraud.

But residents will still have to pick up the tab for overspends in council budgets. The council is already working to a plan which creates a more rigorous system of checks and accountabilities, and key players have departed the scene. Let’s hope they are fully scrutinised, especially by the electorate, whose money has been ill-managed.