Leaders warn of another big council tax rise for Windsor and Maidenhead
It increased by almost 9% this year
Yet another above cap council tax increase will be needed to set a balanced budget next year, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has warned.
The cash-strapped council was granted £103 million in exceptional financial support from the government for the current year’s budget which included a near-9 per cent council tax increase.
Next year’s budget won’t have to be approved until March 2026 – but the council is already warning it will need another package of support including ‘an increase to council tax above the statutory cap’.
A report to council leaders says this is because several years of council tax cuts and freezes in the Royal Borough have left it £30 million a year short of what it needs to set a balanced budget.
It added that the council had already begun ‘informal’ talks with the government.
The report says: “The council’s c£30m a year structural deficit cannot be closed entirely through transformation, savings and increased income.”
It adds this means the council ‘will again need to engage with government to agree a package of support which would include further exceptional financial support and an increase to council tax above the agree statutory cap’.
The warning comes as the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s cabinet committee of leading councillors is set to approve its budget-setting process.
Council departments will be asked to start coming up with proposals for cuts, savings and new ways to make money in June.
These proposals will be presented to council leaders and bosses in September.
But council leaders are already being warned that the £30 million a year shortfall is ‘too large to be balanced entirely by local decisions’.
The cabinet report says: “RBWM is expecting to deliver nearly £6m of savings during the 2025/26 financial year.
“Closing the council’s structural budget gap of £30m would require the authority to deliver five times that amount of savings within its budget – this is not achievable.”
The report notes that councils will have a better idea of how much funding they will receive from the government when it completes its spending review on June 11.
But it warns that the government is unlikely to give councils enough money to cover the funding shortfalls councils throughout England are facing.
Councils across the country are struggling to make their funding cover increasing costs and demand for services, particularly in special educational needs, social care and homelessness accommodation.
The Royal Borough says this means it has already begun informal discussions with the government – and could soon make a formal request.
This would include asking for a council tax increase above the 4.99 per cent cap.
It would also include a capitalisation direction – effectively a loan which it will have to pay back by selling off property.
The cabinet was set to meet and approve the budget-setting plan on Wednesday, May 21.