If you read the budget papers from Wokingham, bearing in mind they are supposed to cover plans for the next 3 years, you would have absolutely no idea that tens of millions of pounds of council assets and services are to be held and run by council-owned commercial companies.    

 One of them already exists.  Wokingham Enterprises Ltd. is the company to whom the council’s assets are being handed over, initially as part of the Wokingham town centre regeneration.   But it is not mentioned in the Medium Term Financial Plan, not even in the evaluation of major risks.  We’re not talking chicken feed here – £45.6 million is the figure for the town centre regeneration.  But not a word about WEL controlling the assets.  

And Wokingham town centre is apparently just the start for WEL.  It is also going to be given control of (though possibly not ownership of) other council buildings.  And it may also buy and manage property outside the Borough.     That’s the point at which I start getting really anxious.  WBC is a council, delivering services for residents.  I don’t have a problem with it making some money that’s peripheral to public services if it helps to keep the council tax down.  But just how far do the Tories’ plans for WEL go?  I’m fine with a council that does a bit of property development on the side to improve its own area.  I don’t want to find it’s turned into a property developer that happens to deliver some council services.

 The Liberal Democrats have no objection in principle to getting experts involved in helping the council.  We just want to be sure that public money is safe and being used for the benefit of residents.  But it is virtually impossible for us or residents to find out what is going on.  Everything is being buried.  This secrecy is not acceptable.     

And there’s more coming.  Another company is about to come into existence, with exactly the same lack of transparency.  Connect Community Care (a working title, I understand) is due to take over the delivery of services to the elderly and disabled which were previously provided directly by the council. 

Again, the Lib Dems are not opposed in principle – and we understand that changes to the way social care budgets operate means the council has to change the way it operates.  But we have huge concerns about this step.   I am not allowed to tell you what the business case says.  I can tell you what the Executive agenda says: “Financial modelling suggests that this company after initial losses related to start up costs, will begin to generate profits”.   The company will be handling millions of pounds of services to vulnerable people.  And it will apparently be trying to make a profit out of them.  And how is this dealt with in the budget?  One mention of “Community Care Traded Company”, with a cost of £40,000 next year and then a £200,000 contribution over the next 2 years.  And that’s it. 

The Lib Dems are not against the council creating limited companies if they are a vehicle for guaranteeing delivery of a good quality service in a cost effective way, provided that their finances are transparent and they are properly accountable to this council and to our residents.  But I can tell you now in no uncertain terms we will not support attempts to make a profit out of vulnerable elderly and disabled people.

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