Gigantic council tax hike 'an unacceptable blow' for Maidenhead and Windsor people, say Conservatives

Conservatives in Windsor and Maidenhead have lambasted the ‘unprecedented’ hike in council tax proposed by the council’s administration.

They say raising council tax is one of ‘two disastrous pillars’ of the draft 2025/26 budget, with the other including ‘a government bailout’ – referring to the £60million loan the Borough is asking for.

The Conservative group called the hike in council tax ‘an unacceptable blow’ for residents already grappling with rising costs.

They argue that this demonstrates the administration ‘has shown itself incapable of managing the borough’s finances’ and prefers to ‘shift blame’ rather than take responsibility.

The administration’s overspend has ballooned to more than £16million – which the Tories have dubbed ‘reckless overspending’.

Once again, they have criticised ‘delays’ in developing Maidenhead Golf Club, hindering the borough’s ability to repay council debt using the money it would get from this.

As for the accounting errors that Lib Dems blame squarely on the Tory former administration, the Conservative group stressed that RBWM should ‘govern forwards’ rather than ‘make excuses’ and ‘hide behind’ the discrepancies.

The group stressed it is ‘the responsibility of the chief financial officer and senior directorate to produce and present accurate accounts, not Conservative councillors who they now seek to blame’.

They added that the ‘sudden, unexplained’ departure of the Section 151 officer Elizabeth Griffiths earlier this month raises ‘serious concerns about financial control’.

The budget for the next fiscal year predicts a deficit of nearly £33million, which also troubles the Tories. They say this this amounts to ‘a systemic failure’, not a temporary setback.

Though the administration has said it must receive financial support from the Government, the Tory group says the proposed ‘risky’ £60million loan is ‘gambling’ with residents’ financial futures and branded it ‘irresponsible.’

Moreover, they disagree with the council leader’s view that insourcing will help solve quality of service problems by giving the council more control.

Instead, the Tories say they think insourcing is ‘likely to further escalate costs while reducing efficiency’.

Though the council has said on several occasions that the spiralling costs of adults and children’s services are largely down to pressures seen all over the country, the Tories still have criticisms for its actions.

The group says there has been a ‘mismanagement’ of these services because of the administration’s ‘inefficiency’.

As such, the Conservatives say they have ‘no confidence’ that problems with these services will be dealt with in a cost-effective way.

Conservative-led proposals from 2023 to save more than £3million in adult services have been ‘ignored,’ they added.

Cllr Hunt, leader of the Conservative Group, said: “This administration has lost control of RBWM’s finances. Reckless spending, poor strategy, a failure to pull through required savings and efficiencies, unacceptable delays and a lack of effective transformational plans have brought the Borough to the brink of bankruptcy.

“Instead of taking responsibility, they are pushing the burden onto residents through higher taxes and service cuts. This is not leadership; it is a failure of governance.

“Increasing council tax by 25 per cent, seeking a huge Government bailout – probably with strings attached – and finding that the s151 officer has suddenly departed, (all) show the Liberal Democrats have lost control of the Borough finances.

“Residents deserve better, and urgent action is needed before the situation spirals further out of control.”