Parliament has broken for summer recess – this is a welcome chance for MPs to recharge, spend more time in their constituencies, and connect with the people and businesses they represent.

I'm very much looking forward to the extra time in Woking, and I hope to see as many of you as possible at events across the constituency over the coming weeks.

This will be my final column until Parliament returns in September, but I can assure you the hard work won't stop. I may not be able to hold our new Prime Minister to account at the despatch box until the autumn, but I will be working hard for Woking throughout the summer.

Before leaving office, one of the last significant pieces of legislation the former Prime Minister managed to pass was the Public Office (Accountability) Act. This law is particularly meaningful for Woking, given the mismanagement that led to Woking Borough Council’s effective bankruptcy.

This legislation enshrines a statutory duty of candour on public officials – those who intentionally mislead the public or breach that duty, can now face criminal prosecution, including imprisonment.

Under the new law, officials can no longer deflect, delay or withhold information, while a financial crisis deepens behind closed doors. Masking deficits, falsifying asset values, or keeping councillors in the dark, could now constitute a criminal offence.

It makes clear that public officials remain legally liable, even after they have left their posts – executives cannot simply walk away from the systemic consequences of their decisions.

One of the most frustrating aspects of Woking Borough Council’s financial collapse was that the true scale of the crisis only became clear after Ray Morgan and the former leadership left office – leaving a newly elected Liberal Democrat administration to issue a Section 114 bankruptcy notice and inherit nearly £2billion in debt.

This law will prevent future leaders doing the same, improving accountability and therefore decision making.

Woking’s debt is unprecedented. We have the most indebted council in the country and Ray Morgan was the "principal architect" of that – as identified in the damning Grant Thornton Report. A multi-decade borrowing spree left our borough facing a generational debt crisis.

Auditors uncovered an insular internal culture that discouraged challenge, bypassed standard governance, and left financial safeguards entirely broken. For example, Woking's former leadership had a discretionary £3 million "Opportunities Fund" managed by Mr Morgan with virtually no oversight.

This should never have been allowed to happen. Ray Morgan’s decisions have cost our town so much, which is why I have repeatedly called for him to be stripped of his OBE.

Thousands of people in Woking are still living with the consequences of those decisions, which is why I welcome – and voted for – the passage of the Public Office (Accountability) Act.

While it cannot undo the damage that has already been done, it should help ensure that a scandal on the scale of the borough’s financial collapse never happens again. And if it does, those responsible will face serious legal consequences.

The fact that future misconduct in public office can be properly investigated and punished is a significant and welcome step forward – and we’ve got to take that as a win.

I look forward to seeing you across Woking this summer.

Stay in touch over the summer break: [email protected] https://www.willforster.co.uk/; Instagram @forster_will; Facebook.com/WillforWoking; X @WillForster