Controversial budget approved by councillors

The controversial budget that will see Royal Borough residents lose parking discounts, the number of community wardens decrease and force libraries to cut opening hours has been approved by councillors.

At a full council meeting on Tuesday, members debated the budget proposals

designed to help to produce nearly £6m in savings as the council grapples with a projected overspend of £3.7m for this financial year.

Introducing the proposals, Cllr David Hilton (Con, Ascot & Sunninghill), lead member for finance, said: “This council proposes a transformative, innovative and financially responsible budget designed to

future-proof the council while protecting vulnerable people.”

Council tax will rise by 1.99 per cent along with a two per cent increase in the adult social care
precept, meaning the overall council tax bill will rise by 3.9 per cent.

For a band D home in an unparished area of Maidenhead, this equates to a rise of £52.25, from £1,339.65 to £1,391.90.

Response to the budget has been mixed, with some elements, particularly the scrapping of the Advantage Card parking discounts, receiving criticism from the public; a petition calling for the council to reverse its

decision on this cut has received more than 7,000 signatures.

At the meeting, Cllr Hilton hinted that this decision may be revisited in the future, stating the council was ‘considering options for a parking discount offer’.

Cllr David Cannon (Con, Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury), lead member for parking, added: “We are deciding to review a number of

options for parking – this will particularly focus on Windsor.

“This will be in place from September 2020.

“This time frame will allow council residents time to consider what we are doing and fully understand our implementations.”

Other introductions

include a residents’ parking permit, which will cost £50 for the first car and £70 for a second. There will be discounts for electric vehicles.

The number of community wardens in the borough is to decrease from 25 to 19. Cllr Cannon said that this change was partly due

to Thames Valley Police announcing an increase in its officers.

Another change which is still being consulted on is the proposal to ‘transform’ the council’s support for vulnerable children and families by introducing two central hubs in Maidenhead and Windsor from which the majority of services will be run.

Cllr Stuart Carroll (Con, Boyn Hill), lead member for adult social care, children’s services, health and mental health, praised the budget and the impact it will have on the borough’s most vulnerable.

He said: “The reality is we are in a good position on children and adult

social care.

“The budget for adult social care is increasing by £1.9million and, for children, it is up £1.2million.

“The point of this is we are following the advice of the Children’s Commissioner, from a cross-party report which includes Liberal Democrats.”

At the meeting, the revenue budget was carried with 23 votes for and 17 against. The new budget will come into effect on Wednesday, April 1.

Also at the meeting, the council tax reduction scheme, fees and charges and capital budget were all voted through by members.