The government has confirmed it will not renew the formal financial warning issued to Runnymede Borough Council — declaring that ministers are now reassured the council is meeting its legal duties to residents.
The Non-Statutory Best Value Notice, issued in December 2023 after an independent review found the council’s debt stood at 71 times its core spending power, has been lifted in full. The notice had been triggered by concerns about the scale of borrowing accumulated under the previous Conservative administration — which the council’s own financial officers had warned could exhaust the council’s reserves entirely by 2028/29. In short, Runnymede was heading for bankruptcy.
I'm proud of what we have achieved in our first year. We inherited a financial crisis that the Conservatives had spent years building up and hoped nobody would notice. We came in, opened the books, invited independent scrutiny, and got on with fixing it. The government has now confirmed we are back on the right track — not because we hid from scrutiny, but because we welcomed it. - Cllr Robert King, Co-Leader of Runnymede Borough Council
What we inherited
When Labour and the alliance took office in May 2024 — ending 50 years of unbroken Conservative control — it inherited a council under formal government scrutiny, with debt of around £620 million, a projected budget shortfall, and a financial trajectory its own officers described as unsustainable. The independent review by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy had identified Runnymede as the third most indebted council in England relative to its size, behind only Woking and Spelthorne — with Woking entering effective bankruptcy in June 2023.
What we did
Rather than shy away from scrutiny, we invited more of it. In its first year in office the new administration commissioned a full Corporate Peer Challenge through the Local Government Association, formalised a moratorium on new commercial investment, overhauled the council’s approach to financial risk management, and maintained open quarterly engagement with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The LGA’s Corporate Peer Challenge, carried out in October 2024, found the council to be well run, issuing just seven recommendations — the majority referencing work already underway. The peer team described the overall position as positive.
Government confirms: council back on track
In a letter to the council’s chief executive, Suzanne Clarke, Deputy Director of Local Government Finance at the ministry, said ministers were “pleased to see that the council has used the Best Value Notice as an opportunity to self-reflect and invite external scrutiny and challenge.” She praised the council’s “regular and constructive engagement” and confirmed the notice would not be reissued.