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Council's report card: 'Still more work to do'

Patrick O'Hagan
Political Reporter, BBC South
Reporting fromSlough
BBC A series of three flags fluttering outside the glass fronted Slough Borough Council office building, Observatory House. One of the flags has the council logo on it and in the top right corner you can see a few clouds in what is a very bright skyBBC
Slough Borough Council (its Observatory House offices are pictured) has been facing scrutiny over its finances

Slough Borough Council has been on the naughty step since 2021, when a group of outside commissioners were brought in to try and repair its shattered finances.

Four years on the commissioners have published the latest in a series of reports looking at what progress has been made in getting the borough back on to a more stable footing.

Picture the council -if you can- as a nervous school child sitting alongside their parents, waiting for their teacher to read out their end of year school report.

The teacher's verdict? I'm pleased to say that progress is being made but I'm sorry to say that the recovery is still fragile. Ouch!

This is the sixth report from the commissioners and worryingly for both the council and the people who live in Slough the report says: "The council's finances continue to be of a significant concern."

It's been selling off tens of millions of pounds worth of buildings and other assets ever since it was declared effectively bankruptcy in 2021, with £760m of borrowed debt.

Its most lucrative sale was back in 2022 when it managed to bring in more than £140 million from the former Akzo Nobel site.

Last autumn though the council warned that its hopes of raising £600m in all through various property sales were unlikely to be realised due to tough market conditions.

'Years in the making'

The commissioners have better things to say about the people running the show there, saying: "The leadership team has taken shared ownership of the council's improvement and recovery plan, and this is reflected in a more joined up approach to council recovery."

Responding to the report, the borough's leader Dexter Smith said: "Ever since forming my administration in May 2023 I have told Slough's residents and council staff there is no quick or easy way to turn round our council's fortunes.

"The situation we are dealing with has been years in the making and so it will take years to resolve. I remain dedicated to our borough."

Four years on from going public with its money problems it's clear there's still an awfully long way to go at Slough Borough.

The commissioners brought in to improve standards will remain in place until at least November 2026.

What next year's report will have to say about any progress that's been made remains to be seen but one thing's for sure, the council needs to pick up the pace if it wants to get its teacher/commissioners off its back.