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Stephen Fitzgerald interview: Woking’s s151 on financial stability, debt, LGR and ‘remembering the end user’

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In 2026, Woking Borough Council both is and isn’t in an unusual position. According to section 151 officer and strategic director of finance and resources Stephen Fitzgerald, it is now a “well managed, fairly standard” district council – but this is in terms of its business-as-usual budget and not the £2.2bn of historic debt it still holds.

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Fitzgerald says there are plenty of indications that the authority is moving in the right direction, from a “difficult” starting position to relative financial

A large cohort of CFOs have been put back into a “washing machine of turmoil” following the government’s decision to pause and review local government reorganisation (LGR).

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