Intervention and improvement

Central government intervention into the finances, investments and related governance of the council, Section 114 notice, Grant Thornton Public Interest Report, part 2 meeting documents, the Improvement and Recovery Plan.

Contents

Government commissioners

The commissioners are accountable to the Secretary of State and report regularly on our progress towards recovery.

The commissioners work with senior council officers to deliver an agreed recovery and action plan at pace.

The commissioners appointed by the Secretary of State, and shared with Spelthorne Borough Council, are:

  • Lesley Seary – Lead Commissioner
  • Deborah McLaughlin – Housing and Regeneration Commissioner
  • Mervyn Greer – Commercial Commissioner
  • Barry Scarr – Finance Commissioner

Retired commissioners, include: 

  • Sir Tony Redmond (retires at the end of August 2026)
  • Richard Carr (remains in post as the council's Chief Executive)
  • Jim Taylor
  • Carol Culley

Lead Commissioner – Lesley Seary

Lesley has over 20 years' of experience in senior roles across various London authorities, including her tenure as Chief Executive of the London Borough of Islington from June 2011 to April 2019. 

She undertook the external assurance review of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, published in June 2023. 

Lesley serves as a Non-Executive Director at both Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (since August 2019), and Barts Health NHS Trust (since February 2022).

Go to Lesley Seary's appointment letter, 15 July 2026 – GOV.UK

Housing and Regeneration Commissioner – Deborah McLaughlin

Deborah has over 30 years' experience working in regeneration and housing across the public and private sectors. 

From 2021 to 2024, she was a Commissioner at Liverpool City Council leading on regeneration. 

Deborah has considerable Executive Director experience, including as Executive Director for the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) from 2008 to 2016, and Housing Director for Manchester City Council.

Go to Deborah McLaughlin's appointment letter, 15 July 2026 – GOV.UK

Commercial Commissioner – Mervyn Greer

Mervyn is the long-term serving Director of Kier Group, a leading UK construction and infrastructure services company.

Prior to working at Kier Group, he held the role of Development Director at Accord Plc, a local authority highways construction and maintenance company, and Head of Local Government and Facilities Management Consultancy at Amey, a leading infrastructure services and engineering company.

In 2016 Mervyn was engaged as an accredited commercial assessor for the Government Commercial Function development programme. In 2018 he was appointed by the Cabinet Office as Crown Representative with responsibility for the relationships with strategic suppliers to Government and Crown Representative to the Local Government Association.

In 2020 Mervyn was appointed by the Secretary of State as an inspector for the statutory review of Liverpool City Council.

Go to Mervyn Greer's appointment letter, 1 May 2024 – GOV.UK

Finance Commissioner – Barry Scarr

In his substantive career, Barry was a Director of Finance with over 20 years’ experience in the role. He has worked in a variety of councils at a senior level, including:

  • the London Borough of Waltham Forest
  • the London Borough of Haringey
  • the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
  • Durham County Council
  • Sunderland City Council
  • Bradford City Council

Barry's speciality are councils that are in financial difficulties. His last two roles were MHCLG appointments to Northamptonshire in 2019 and Liverpool in 2022, both of which were under government intervention. Barry has a track record of stabilising adverse financial positions and developing sustainable transformation programmes.

Since retirement, Barry has carried out a Financial Sustainability and Improvement Advisor (FISA) role for the Local Government Association (LGA), as well as advising the Department for Education (DfE) on the national Safety Valve programme for high needs funding. 

Barry was a member of the Middlesbrough Council Independent Improvement and Advisory Board until March 2025, and is currently a member of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Financial Improvement and Sustainability Board.

Go to Barry Scarr's appointment letter, 15 April 2025 – GOV.UK

Commissioners' reports and government responses

The commissioners report our progress to the government's Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on a regular basis.

Commissioners' letters

View or download the letter from Deputy Director of Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to Sir Tony Redmond about his appointment as Lead Commissioner, sent on 13 December 2023.

Read Sir Tony Redmond's appointment letter, 13 December 2023 – GOV.UK

View or download the letter from Deputy Director of Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to Richard Carr about his appointment as Managing Director Commissioner, sent on 13 December 2023.

Read Richard Carr's appointment letter, 13 December 2023 – GOV.UK

View or download the letter from the commissioners to the Leader of Woking Borough Council about the appointment of Richard Carr as Head of Paid Service, sent on 18 March 2024.

View or download the letter from the commissioners to the Deputy Leader of Woking Borough Council and Strategic Director of Corporate Resources about the appointment of a Corporate Restructuring Officer, sent on 11 July 2025.

View or download the letter from Richard Carr, Managing Director Commissioner to Adesuwa Omoregie, Woking Borough Council Monitoring Officer, about the agreement of settlement deed with Amey, sent on 7 May 2026.

View or download the letter from the commissioners to the Leader of Woking Borough Council about securing the services of Richard Carr, Chief Executive, sent on 15 July 2026.

Contact the government commissioners

To contact the commissioners:

Email: commissioners@woking.gov.uk 

Please do not email the commissioners to report a problem with a council service or to make a complaint.

Service problems and complaints

If you wish to request a service or report a problem with a service, please contact the relevant service area.

If you wish to make a complaint, please use our complaints process.

If you remain dissatisfied, having completed our formal complaints procedure, you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) if you believe the matter has not been handled properly and our complaints process includes contact details for how to do this.