Windsor and Maidenhead MPs clash over council tax

Windsor’s MP has branded RBWM’s 25 per cent hike in council tax as ‘outrageous’– while Maidenhead’s MP has defended it saying it is a chance to ‘fix the mess once and for all.’

Yesterday, (Wednesday, December 18), Conservative MP Jack Rankin gave his debut question to Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions.

He raised RBWM’s plans to hike council tax by an ‘unprecedented’ 25 per cent, which would require the Government’s permission.

Mr Rankin asked the PM if he agreed with him ‘that this outrageous request should be rejected’ and constituents ‘should not be footing the bill for the persistent weak financial control and political failure locally.’

Mr Starmer replied to say Mr Rankin was ‘right to raise this issue’, and said the Government ‘is committed to fixing the foundations of local government and keeping taxes as low as possible for working people’.

Mr Rankin also wrote to Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, calling on her to reject RBWM’s draft budget proposals, including the steep council tax rise.

Commenting, Jack Rankin MP said: “The Liberal Democrats have presided over 18 months of chaos in the Royal Borough, and in their latest instalment, they want residents to foot the bill for their failures with an enormous tax bombshell.

“Expecting residents to pay a 25 per cent is an absolute joke.

“Not only would this be a shock to household finances in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it would allow the Royal Borough to become the catalyst for weak financial control, poor leadership and the misuse of taxpayers’ money elsewhere in Britain.

“The Government must consider whether it is right or fair to saddle residents with such an unprecedented increase, and I strongly urge them to dismiss these ludicrous proposals.”

In Mr Rankin’s letter he asked instead for ‘short-term imposition of government commissioners’ – and longer-term, local government reform in East Berkshire.

On Monday, the Government announced a re-organisation of local authorities as part of the English Devolution White Paper, which looks to overhaul local government to bring councils together and create strategic authorities across England.

Speaking at the PMQs this week, Mr Rankin suggested the Borough ‘might be a candidate for accelerated local government reorganisation.’

Lib Dem view: Maidenhead’s MP Joshua Reynolds

However, Liberal Democrat MP for Maidenhead Josh Reynolds is sceptical about reorganisation.

Firstly, he maintains that RBWM’s current finances are ‘a Conservative mess’ that the Liberal Democrats are ‘fixing.’

“No one wants to do it [raise council tax by 25 per cent], that’s the starting point,” Mr Reynolds said. “This is the chance to fix the mess once and for all.

“The only reason the council are having to do this because of the Tory mismanagement over the last 16 years.

“We’ve gone through six years of council tax cuts [and] two years of holding council tax steady, which means the council is £30million a year short from its budget compared to where it should be.”

Mr Reynolds added that problems caused by the Tories are not isolated to RBWM.

“In Woking, the Liberal Democrats are fixing the mess the Conservatives left there, and the Conservatives have made such a mess of national accounts, the Labour party are trying to fix their problems as well,” he said.

“Time and time again, Conservatives ruin the finances across the country and it’s other parties that come in to fix the mess.”

Mr Reynolds added that he ‘not convinced’ by Mr Rankin’s belief that merging councils would improve matters.

He stressed that all other local authorities in Berkshire still have higher council taxes than RBWM, even after the potential 25 per cent hike.

“All we’d see from merging is even higher council tax,” said Mr Reynolds. “So the MP for Windsor is himself suggesting that council tax should be even higher [than this 25 per cent].”

He said Mr Rankin was ‘integral to the Windsor Conservatives during the time that all these issues were happening’ and thus ‘was part of the problem.’

“Now he’s turning around and telling us what we should do to fix it. That’s the arsonist trying to play firefighter,” said Mr Reynolds.

In the past, Conservatives have raised questions about Mr Reynolds’ position as both an RBWM councillor and an MP – and how this affects his ability to represent constituents.

Asked if he experienced any challenges posed by holding both roles, Mr Reynolds said:

“No independent resident has ever raised it as a concern.

“Looking at some of those benefits we have at the moment, we have that joined-up working between myself and the council – rather than working against each other.”

He added that he believes he would be of the same view if he were not a member of the council.