Council budget on a ‘knife edge’

Maidenhead: Council tax set to go up by the maximum

The Royal Borough ‘must’ propose an increase in council tax by five per cent for 2023/24, the council’s leader has confirmed.

Alongside all other councils in the country, the Borough has been given the option to do this by the Government, starting from April next year.

This hike incorporates a three per cent rise plus a further two per cent to cover adult social care.

Leader of the council, Andrew Johnson, announced the upcoming proposed rise ‘with regret’ on his public Facebook page at the end of last week.

Among the reasons for the increase, the leader pointed to the cost to the council of unaccompanied asylumseeking children – the Government’s handling of which was criticised by a fellow member of the borough’s cabinet last week.

He also pointed to ‘uncertainty around central government funding’, high

inflation, rising interest rates and energy costs, pressure on reserves and ‘ongoing impacts from the pandemic’.

All of these, he said, were creating ‘considerable financial pressure’ on the council.

“In addition to the above pressures, we are seeing increasing demand for some services, especially provisions for our most vulnerable residents such as adult social care, looked after children, and housing,” he wrote.

He said the borough’s legal duty to take care of unaccompanied asylumseeking children creates ‘a near £1m cost pressure’ – an ‘unforeseen’ cost resulting from ‘central government actions.’

“This figure alone equates to a near 1.25 per cent increase in council tax, or £1m of service reductions in other areas to fund, as we will not receive this money back from government,” Cllr Johnson wrote.

“To help achieve a balanced budget, it is with regret that we must propose a 2.99 per cent increase in council tax for 2023/24 [and] an additional increase of 2 per cent in the dedicated adult social care precept.”

Last week, leader of the local independents, Cllr Lynne Jones, predicted that the council would have ‘no choice’ but to up council tax by the full five per cent.

She put this down to historical decisions by the administration, straining the council’s finances.

“We’ve been on a knife edge for three years, four years, just scraping into a balanced budget with millions [of pounds] of cuts every year,” she said.

The council is set to discuss its 2023/24 draft budget at a cabinet meeting tonight (Thursday).