Voting for change

AMAJORITY of Wokingham borough residents voted for change in the local elections on May 5. We will be trying to live up to that hope and expectation of change.

One of the early signs of a different way of doing things is our approach to how the council is run.

When it was under Conservative control – as it was for the 20 years before May 5 – only Conservative councillors were given the opportunity to chair committees, and only Conservative councillors were allowed to represent the council on external bodies, even when those external bodies were based in a part of the borough in which the Conservatives had no councillors.

The new Liberal Democrat-led administration has already shown its willingness to be less tribal and more inclusive. We have offered chairs of powerful Overview & Scrutiny committees to members of other parties, including Conservatives. While labour and the Independents accepted Chairs of two O&S committees the Conservatives declined because they did not have a majority on the committee.

Sadly, they do not understand how Overview & Scrutiny works.

We have supported local nominees for external bodies, which means we have agreed to the appointment of Conservative, Labour, and independent councillors as well as Liberal Democrats. In place of the winner takes all approach we have opted for a fairer distribution of roles and responsibilities.

This new approach is part of the spirit of partnership that we want to encourage. No party has a monopoly of good ideas. We want to draw on the skills and experience of all councillors, irrespective of party allegiance, to help us tackle the challenges that face the council.

These challenges are great. The government has, for many years, underfunded the council. Now it is proposing to pass on to the local taxpayer much of the cost of its social care reforms. These costs will increase in scale over the next few years, as the reforms are phased in, but before very long will be eye-wateringly enormous amounts of money.

Over three years this will cost the Wokingham council taxpayer over £25 million.

The Conservatives left no plan to address this massive cost which would clearly bankrupt the council. This is what the outgoing Conversatives have said about the government’s plans.

We therefore need to lobby government for more funding to help meet this vast new call on the council tax. To do this we will work with other local authorities that are likely to be as badly affected as we are.

We will be looking to councillors of all political parties on Wokingham Borough Council to put aside their differences to enable us to present a strong case to government.

Similarly, we need to call on the talents and connections of all councillors, regardless of party, to help put the case for a reduction in the housing numbers imposed upon us by government. We have fresh evidence to give, which will strengthen that case, but we need all councillors to work for the cause. Protecting our borough from unsustainable development is something, surely, on which we can all agree.

One of my first acts as Council leader has been to write to Michael Gove the Secretary of State for levelling up, communities and Housing who is responsible for housing numbers asking for a meeting to discuss housing numbers in Wokingham. We want a significant reduction.

We also need to work together to address the climate emergency that threatens us, and our children and their children. Without urgent and concerted action at local as well as national and international levels, disaster will ensue. To do our bit, we will need buy-in from all parties on the council.

If we work together, we can achieve a lot for you, our residents. If we spend all our time fighting over what the public regard as trivial matters, we will be doing a disservice to the residents we were all – of whatever party – elected to serve.

Now, more than ever, is the time for grown-up politics. Let’s hope the Conservatives get the message soon.