On Wednesday 7 June 2023, the Section 151 Officer and Interim Director of Finance issued Woking Borough Council with a Section 114 Notice in response to the unprecedented financial challenges facing the authority.In previous podcasts Lib Dem Councillors Peter Graves and Dale Roberts have discussed the prospects of WBC being issued with a Section 114 notice.  Now that such a notice has been formally issued how is it going to affect the residents of Woking?  Whilst much will depend upon the findings of the accountants Councillor Roberts identifies some of the ideas being explored which will result in Woking Council being a successful local authority and less of a failing bank.  Service redesign, good value for money, resident engagement, openness and transparency of decision making are all part of the mix.Support the show

Dr Swati Mukherjee, a paediatric surgeon, a senior director in biotechnology and mother of 2 boys is the Lib Dem candidate for the Horsell Ward on 4th May.Swati talks to Cllr Peter Graves about her life, achievements and ambitions for Woking.Support the show

Steve Greentree was a senior executive in the biotech industry and talks about how he wants to apply the customer focussed approach that was so successful in his business life to help the residents of Knaphill. Steve talks to Cllr Peter Graves about his life, achievements and ambitions.Support the show

Pyrford resident, father of 2 sons, world record holder, ocean rower, business owner, keen cyclist, fit energetic campaigner and compassionate supporter of those less able to help themselves.Chris talks to Cllr Peter Graves about his life, achievements and ambitions and reveals some surprising and candid stories about himself.Support the show

The Woking Examiner's Cllr Peter Graves, asks Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regulations,  Cllr Liam Lyons, to explain:What are the benefits of a town centre Masterplan?Does Woking have such a plan?Is the choice as simple as "build up" or "build out"?Can Woking meet its building targets for affordable homes?When did Woking start preparing a Masterplan? Can National Planning Inspectors over rule a Local Planning Committee decision?What is the Council's next step?Support the show

In this episode we continue the examination of Woking Borough Council's finances and try to find answers to questions such as:Can WBC go bankrupt? What are the implications of a Section 114 notice?What is DLUHC?What are the Lib Dems doing to sort out the problems?How long will it take to sort out the problems?Support the show

This episode of The Woking Examiner tries to answer three questionsWith borrowing commitments standing at £2.4 billion how did Woking Borough Council end up with such huge loans?With annual loan repayments of £60 million and climbing and Council Tax income of £10 million how does it make ends meet?  Does it actually make ends meet?Woking Lib Dem Councillor Peter Graves takes a close look at the inner workings of WBC's finances with fellow Councillor and Finance Portfolio Holder Dale Roberts. Support the show

The local election is fast approaching. Woking residents will go to the polls on May 6th to have their say on who represents their Borough, their County and as their Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).  In this episode Liberal Democrat Candidate Dale Roberts explores the issues that will help you decide where to place your vote. He is joined by Lib Dem Cllrs Will Forster (Woking Borough Council and Surrey County Council) and Paul Kennedy (Mole Valley and standing for Surrey's PCC).  We ask why the council tax bills, landing on our doorsteps recently, included such a large increase and how we can hold the Surrey Police to account on delivering a safer county and exactly who decides on the budget to achieve it. As always, we really appreciate your thoughts and feedback about the show. You can reach out to us using the email address below, or at our social media. We read all your comments and may include yours in an upcoming episode! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE, SHARE and FOLLOW us on social media. Email: [email protected] Website: https://wokinglibdems.org.uk/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wokingLD/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wokinglibdems Support the show

Politicians today are creating a growing gap between what they say and what they do. The result is an increasing lack of trust in politics.  “Fide et Diligentia”. This is the motto of Woking Borough Council. It means ‘Faith and Diligence.’ Ironic, given how the Tory-led council have been making decisions. It’s no surprise that politicians are seen as less trustworthy than bankers when they bypass formal processes and obfuscate the findings of independent reports. They insist they want to be transparent but time and again fail to be anything other than opaque.  The Lib Dem-led Overview and Scrutiny Committee are tasked with holding the Tory-led council executive to account and ensuring the decisions made are in the interests of Woking residents. In this episode of the popular Lib Dem podcast series, Adam Kirby and Dale Roberts explore the Lib Dem successes and the challenges they faced when trying to hold the Tory-led council to account.  They analyse how the Lib Dem-led Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviewed a council project, exposed a dubious £250m loan and uncovered governance failures and give their views on how to rebuild trust in politicians. They raise 3 important questions: How many other Tory-led projects have been carried out with such poor governance? How can we have confidence that we are getting value for money? Is democracy in Woking under threat from this behaviour?  And offer clear solutions that would be actioned by a Lib Dem administration: Welcome scrutiny and learn lessons from it Apply the principles of openness, transparency and financial prudence. Be judged by our actions not our promises. Time for change on 6th May – Your Town, Your Future, Your Vote. Vote Lib Dems. As always, we really appreciate your thoughts and feedback about the show. You can reach out to us using the email address below, or at our social media. We read all your comments and may include yours in an upcoming episode! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE, SHARE and FOLLOW us on social media. Materials referred to in this podcast are available in links below.    Woking Borough Council Meeting discussing the implementation of a Scrutiny Report involving, amongst other things, the £250 million loan. Independent Inspector’s Report confirming the findings of the Scrutiny Report. The WBC Executive Report on the Independent Inspector’s Report Email: [email protected] Website: https://wokinglibdems.org.uk/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wokingLD/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wokinglibdems Support the show

Serious managerial incompetence by senior Tory Councillors is identified in the independent inspector's "Report on Woking Football Club and Associated Development - 15 December 2020". The report clearly identifies many very important issues for all Woking voters.  Woking Borough Council granted a £250 million loan to a property developer and has been found to have inadequate paperwork to support the deal, not having taken appropriate legal advice and kept secret information that should have been in the public domain.  In this podcast we ask how did this happen and who was responsible for such an extraordinary scale of incompetence.  Ann-Marie Barker, Leader of Lib Dem Group on Woking Borough Council and a Goldsworth Park Councillor, suggests answers to these crucial questions.This is the second episode in our Woking Spotlight series, and definitely not our last. Residents have the right to know about the decisions impacting them for years to come!As always, we really appreciate your thoughts and feedback about the show. You can reach out to us using the email address below, or at our social media. We read all your comments and may include yours in an upcoming episode! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE, SHARE and FOLLOW us on social media. Email: [email protected] Website: https://wokinglibdems.org.uk/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wokingLD/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wokinglibdems Inspector’s report: Report on Woking Football Club and Associated Development Support the show