Bankrupt Woking to get £500m bailout in Surrey council shake-up
‘Unprecedented’ move helps to smooth over creation of two new ‘mega council’ unitary authorities
Ministers have agreed to give bankrupt Woking council an “unprecedented” £500m taxpayer bailout under government plans to merge a dozen local authorities in Surrey.
In a historic intervention, the communities secretary, Steve Reed, said the government would repay a significant chunk of the debt owed by the former Tory-run local authority.