Letter: This Decision Is an Outrageous Stitch-up

Published on: 31 Oct, 2025
Updated on: 31 Oct, 2025

From J Norman

In response to: ‘Disaster in the Making’: Residents React with Anger and Distrust

I’m not normally one to complain, as I think councillors do good work for all of us. However, the local government reorganisation decision really does look like an outrageous stitch-up.

While GBC and many of the other district councils were focused on a three council model (that the Government, eager to save money, was never likely to sign off), Surrey County Council, whose key cabinet members are from Elmbridge and other East Surrey districts, totally outplayed them. They honed an arrangement that drew the line to ensure their areas did not get any debt ridden councils and now we in West Surrey have to carry three – Woking, Spelthorne and Runnymede.

The £500 million from the Government for Woking is a fraction of the total debt; on 29 Oct the BBC estimated West Surrey’s debt at £4 billion after the bailout, whereas East Surrey is flush. Their deficit is £285 million.

Write to your MP, make a fuss – we cannot allow this to be the end state. It will mean library closures and any non-statutory service paired right back for a generation, while East Surrey is in the clear.

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