Cash-strapped council considers tourist tax

Councillor says charge for Windsor visitors is ‘something we’re looking into’

A tourist tax for Windsor is under consideration by the council as it looks into ‘creative’ options to increase its income, writes Sam Leech.

Councillors at this week’s Cabinet meeting (Tuesday) in Windsor’s York House revealed that the tax was one idea under investigation.

Cabinet member for communities and leisure, Councillor Josh Reynolds (Furze Platt, Lib Dem) confirmed a tourism tax was under consideration.

He said: “We’re currently designing our five-year tourism strategy and we’ve got a team working on that at the moment.

“We’ve asked them to include a piece within the strategy on the tourist tax in Windsor and whether things like that would work for our town and for our borough to generate income.

“We want to make sure anything we introduce doesn’t mean that we end up harming our local businesses, that’s the last thing anyone wants to do, so any decision needs to be made overall looking at the pros and cons.

“But it’s something we’re definitely looking into.”

The Royal Borough is under pressure to fix its finances amid financial woes including nearly £200 million of debt.

A council tax rise of 4.99 per cent has been agreed by Cabinet to alleviate the troubles but the council is still seeking further ways to make money (see p8).

Guest speaker at the meeting, Councillor Mark Wilson (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle), praised the 24/25 council budget’s reference to income opportunities and added: “I would like to add my emphasis to say let’s really think creatively about that, especially thinking of Windsor.

“I know that the number of tourists and businesses Windsor has – that creates a lot of work.”

Discussing the public budget consultation, Councillor Adam Bermange (Lib Dem, Boyn Hill), cabinet member for planning, legal and asset management, said the ‘interesting proposition’ for a tourist tax idea had been raised in a number of responses to the consultation.

Cllr Reynolds added: “It’s an interesting concept and one we’ve discussed within the team a number of times.

“Currently there isn’t government support for an enforceable tourist tax – some areas such a Manchester have been able to introduce it.

“So even through its not legally enforceable they’re able to do it by local businesses signing up for the scheme.”

Manchester’s plan, introduced in April last year, sees tourists pay a £1 tax per room per night in a number of hotels in the city.

It’s currently unclear how a tourist tax would operate in Windsor.