Climate and town centre priorities

Royal Borough: Budget ‘less painful’ says leader but opposition councillors call it ‘smoke and mirrors’

The council has released its draft budget for 2022/23 which it hopes is less controversial than last year’s – saying there are ‘no fundamental changes’ to services.

In the 2021/22 budget, residents were rankled by proposed changes in bin collections, closures and reduced hours in libraries, cuts to arts grants and less money for community wardens, as well as proposals to begin charging in rural car parks.

One challenge the council faces is fluctuations in income as a result of the pandemic, as well as different cost pressures – yet despite this, leader of the council Andrew Johnson said there are fewer ‘tough decisions’ to make this year.

“Because of the work we have done over the past two

years, this (budget) is less difficult and painful,” he said.

He said there are ‘no changes’ to libraries or community wardens – nor any other ‘fundamental changes.’

However, the opposition has criticised it as a ‘holding budget’ or a ‘smoke and mirrors’ budget (see page 6).

The draft states the borough’s main focuses are to tackle climate change, with £250,000 committed for 2022/23.

This is part of an initial investment of £1m in businesses over four to five years, which will eventually pick up the costs themselves.

The second and third priorities are the town centre regeneration and ‘high quality infrastructure’, including outside of Maidenhead.

In terms of savings, the borough is looking at more than £3.3million. By far the largest area of saving is in adults, health and housing – with £725,000 being saved overall.

The next largest is in children's services, with savings totalling £380,000. However, this is offset by a raft of expenditures.

There is a ‘COVID legacy’ in children’s services – an increased amount of family break-up, emotional stress and trauma, requiring the council to spend more on services for those who are struggling.

Cllr Stuart Carroll, lead member for adult social care, children’s services, health and mental health, said the budget was ‘an investment budget, a people’s budget’.

It will support those suffering from domestic abuse, struggling with mental health, vulnerable families and children whose education may have been affected by the pandemic, he said.

He added that despite previously raised opposition concerns, these services would not be ‘exclusive’ to the most vulnerable, but would benefit all residents.

“The current environment is particularly tough for every young person. That’s not narrow or specialised,” he said.

Overall, the administration is ‘confident’ it will finish this year on a balance and is ‘making good progress’ in improving its financial situation.

The draft budget will go before cabinet tonight (Thursday). If approved, an overview and scrutiny panel will review the proposals in December this year.

A public consultation is planned for early December until the end of January, with additional scrutiny that month.

Final budget proposals will be considered by cabinet on February 4, with recommendations going to full council on February 23.