While we were campaigning for the recent West Surrey Council elections many local people said that they were unsure about what will happen regarding the issue of debt in the new council.

As I haven't seen much coverage of likely outcomes for Woking, I'll make a few reasonable predictions based mostly on how the law works, ignoring the question of who is to blame for now.

First, I believe that Woking residents will get a council tax cut in the next two years; however, this will be for an unpopular reason. The relevant law states that council tax bands must be consistent within a council.

So Woking residents will be charged council tax at the same rates as other residents of the new West Surrey Council. Since our council tax is high, it should fall here as it rises elsewhere. Understandably, this is one of the things angering people in other parts of Surrey.

Next we must acknowledge that more of Woking's debt may be forgiven. This is because the law prevents the government from starting a new council in a state of bankruptcy.

As West Surrey will take on the combined debts, assets and responsibilities of several merging councils it would start out bankrupt unless there was some debt forgiveness.

The debt the government has forgiven so far appears to be part of an effort to find the minimum debt forgiveness that meets their legal obligations. If, as news stories suggest, the government made an underestimate then further, probably smaller, amounts may need to be forgiven.

It is unlikely that the new council will start working to fix many of the issues that people discussed with me while we were campaigning. Bankrupt councils, like Woking, can't legally make payments for anything other than keeping the council running.

Closing public toilets, laying off staff and cutting services aren't just money saving moves, they're legal requirements. Although the new council won't be bankrupt when it starts, if the government is only forgiving the minimum amount of debt, it will still be financially crippled.

So, while it can legally make payments needed to fix issues, some payments will be financially impossible because they'd cause another bankruptcy. Realistically I expect the new council to resolve a few cheaper issues, but financial issues will prevent big changes for several years.

My final prediction is that I expect special educational needs provision to be properly overhauled very soon.

Surrey is one of the worst performing UK councils with regards to special needs education. These failures harm the children involved and add stress for parents, but it also adds financial risk for the council and that is what will get this issue resolved.

Legal costs are a big cause of councils bankruptcies, so court cases due to poor SEND provision would be a financial risk.

With West Surrey's financial problems I expect avoiding unnecessary legal fees will be high on the new council’s agenda.