Surrey, the frontrunner for local government reorganisation, has more to grapple with than most. The two-unitary structure announced in October will see the county carved into East Surrey and West Surrey Councils – with the latter subsuming two of the most debt-ridden councils in the country.
Woking and Spelthorne BCs are the poster children for financial failure in local government. The pair are both under government intervention due to the scale of debt they face – in Woking's case, that is £2.2bn for a council with a revenue budget of £25m.
