Surrey councils rack up some of UK's biggest debts

Three borough councils in Surrey have built up some of the biggest debts per person in the UK.

BBC analysis shows Woking owed £1.95bn to lenders as of September, equivalent to nearly £19,000 per person, the highest in the country.

Spelthorne was second with average debts of £10,415, while Runnymede was fifth, with £7,270, behind Warrington and Thurrock in Essex

The Public Accounts Committee said this debt posed a risk to local services.

Woking Borough Council issued a Section 114 notice in June 2023, effectively declaring itself bankrupt, with a deficit of about £1.2bn.

It has proposed £12m in cuts, including removing public toilets and ending funding for community and arts organisations.

A spokesperson for the authority said it had published a recovery plan and launched an external review into the decisions that were made.

Spelthorne, which borrowed to make investments in property between 2016 and 2018 to offset the loss of government funding, said its debt was sustainable.

"Income generated by the assets associated with the debt comfortably exceeds the financing cost of the debt which is steadily being paid down on a year-by-year basis," a spokesperson said.

Runnymede said it had a "sound financial plan" which recognised the risks and challenges facing local government.

Runnymede leader Tom Gracey told BBC Radio Surrey there was no reason to be concerned and money from the council's investments was helping to deliver services, such as day care centres and community transport.

"The reason why we did this was to ensure we had the cashflow available, one, to provide regeneration into our borough, but then also to provide that investment in services," he said.

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