'Urgent action' needed to resolve Windsor and Maidenhead council's 'serious' financial position

Windsor and Maidenhead council is staring into a financial abyss unless immediate action is taken to address a black hole in its balance sheet.

On Wednesday, the Royal Borough’s cabinet was told the local authority currently has debts of £203 million and a forecast overspend of £7.3 million for the 2023/24 financial year.

Increased costs caused by inflation, rising interest rates and pressures on the social care budget, had all contributed to the dire financial position.

There were warnings a section 114 notice, which bans all non-essential spending, could be issued unless ‘urgent and significant action’ is taken.

Councillor for Old Windsor, and cabinet member for finance, Lynne Jones (Independent) said: “We knew we would be inheriting a challenging financial position from the previous Conservative administration.

“They recklessly borrowed and spent without having a guaranteed income to pay down the debt.”

The Vicus Way car park in Maidenhead was held up as an example of a project which had not delivered returns on investment.

Requiring £14 million to build, the car park was now costing ‘an arm and a leg’ in upkeep, said Cllr Jones.

She added that the previous Tory leadership had ‘kicked the can down the road’ and left a ‘huge debt’ for the borough’s residents to repay.

The Royal Borough’s chief finance officer, Elizabeth Griffiths, told the meeting the pressures now facing the council had reached a ‘very serious and concerning level’.

She said that unless the financial position could be reversed in ‘the next few months’ there was ‘significant risk’ of issuing a section 114 notice.

A Section 114 notice restricts any new spending commitments with recent high-profile cases including neighbouring Slough Borough Council.

Council leader Simon Werner (Lib Dem, Pinkneys Green) said the state of the finances proved the Tory council’s February budget had been ‘fake’.

He told the meeting the council’s budget for the 23/24 financial year, set by the Conservative administration, had set savings which were ‘impossible to achieve’.

However, there was an acknowledgment that growing adult social care costs were a significant driver behind the council’s financial position.

Executive director for adult social services, Kevin McDaniel, said increasing numbers of residents requiring longer and more complex care had exacerbated costs.

Mr McDaniel also pointed to increases in the number of care staff employed as agency staff which was ‘without a shadow of a doubt’ a contributing factor.

To alleviate the financial pressures, chief executive Stephen Evans unveiled an action plan comprising of cost-cutting measures including reducing reliance on agency staff and renegotiating contracts.

A key component of the plan was the creation of a Spending Control Panel which would vet any expenditure deemed to be ‘non-essential’.

Mr Graham said other councils which had implemented the process had shown it proved to be ‘effective’.

The leader of the Conservative opposition group, Councillor Maureen Hunt, declined to comment when contacted by the Advertiser.