West Surrey Council: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether West Surrey Council will receive exceptional support funding given its inherited debt and legacy debt payments.
Answered by Alison McGovern
We have committed to significant and unprecedented debt repayment support for Woking Borough Council, recognising that the council holds unsupported debt that they can never fully repay locally. We will repay in-principle £500m of Woking’s debt in 2026-27 as a first tranche of support, and we will explore what further support is required.
As I set out in my letter to the Leaders Elect of East and West Surrey councils, published on gov.uk here, we are committed to providing West Surrey Council with interim financial and/or commercial support until a final decision is made. Any support must consider value for money for local and national taxpayers.
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