Since being elected, I have been working extremely hard to find a resolution to Woking Borough Council’s vast unsustainable debt. It’s one of the biggest issues our town faces, and something that is consistently raised by constituents.

It’s caused public services to be scaled back, the closure of public toilets, and extreme uncertainty for Woking residents over the future viability of our local authority.

I’m really pleased that after months of lobbying ministers, the Government has finally agreed that Woking’s debt cannot be managed locally.

This is a truly historic outcome. No Government has ever written off the debts of a single local authority before. Whilst it doesn’t address all of Woking’s debt immediately, the Government has accepted that more support will be needed in the future.

This is a significant step in the right direction, and this initial package of support will help to ensure that the new West Surrey Council – which Woking is set to become a part of – begins on a sustainable footing.

After the disastrous former Conservative administration and the chief executive, Ray Morgan, left Woking Borough Council with the highest debt of any local authority in the country, I’m relieved that the Government is willing to step in to ensure that residents won’t pay the price for years to come.

I’ll continue working with colleagues across Parliament to ensure the new council isn’t burdened by historic debts, and that residents across Surrey don’t lose out on vital public services because of past mistakes.

In other news, last week a Woking resident named William Smith was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth, just six days after the wrongful release of Brahim Kaddour-Cherif from the same prison.

Thankfully, two days later Mr Smith turned himself in and was returned to custody.

It is utterly unacceptable that the prison system is relying on convicted criminals doing the right thing to ensure that they serve the full extent of the sentences they have been given.

The Government has serious questions to answer. They need to explain why these prisoners have been wrongly released in the first place and rebuild the public’s confidence in our broken justice system.

Speaking of broken systems, since South Western Railway (SWR) was nationalised in May cancellations are up 50 per cent, delays are up 29 per cent and trains being 30-60 minutes late has more than doubled! Train bosses need to do better.

As chair of the South Western Railway All-Party Parliamentary Group, I’ve been working closely with MPs of all parties and rail representatives to push for real improvements to our local train services.

At our next meeting, I’ll be joined by SWR’s managing director, Lawrence Bowman, and will continue holding the company to account on behalf of Woking commuters.

Reliable, affordable, and accessible rail services is the bare minimum, and I’ll keep pushing for the improvements – such as the replacement of the broken lifts at Woking Station – that local passengers deserve.

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