RBWM budget: Borough ‘back to square one’ after Government ‘grenade’ say leaders

It’s something of a bleak moment for RBWM as it releases its draft budget while staring down the barrel of a potential loss of £29million in Government funding.

The draft 2026/27 budget is out – but the path ahead is far from clear, in light of the Government’s Fair Funding Review, which seeks to redistribute funds from affluent areas to deprived ones.

Councillor Lynne Jones, RBWM’s cabinet member for finance, has been vocal on her feelings about this – believing that it will leave RBWM in an untenable position.

Current modelling suggests RBWM could be £29million worse off under this change, though the actual settlement won’t be known until close to Christmas.

Cllr Jones said RBWM had a medium-term plan that got it back into a viable position – and this review has ‘completely thrown that out.’

“We are seeing really strong performances across all our services, our targets are being met, officers are really stepping up,” she said.

“We’ve done everything; we have a voluntary financial board, we have a senior government commissioner who gave us a glowing report – and then this happens.

“Central Government have just thrown this grenade and blown the whole thing apart.

“I’m just so disappointed that there has been absolutely no acknowledgement of the situation we took over.”

She is referring to historically low council tax, which means that even the affluent borough has less money to work with – something Cllr Jones feels the Government has not accounted for.

Cllr Simon Werner, council leader, added: “Lynne [previously] described it as a kick in the teeth and it really is.

“On the one hand they’re saying, ‘You’re a good council – you provide low-cost services, you’re doing everything you can to get out of the situation,’ then on the other hand they’re saying, ‘But we’re going to take away another £30million of your funding.’

“I feel we’re back to square one,” he said.

RBWM will need Exceptional Financial Support from Government again – but this is just a loan, which means the council will need to ‘borrow [more] to repay the borrowing costs.’

“It’s just ridiculous, the whole thing,” said Cllr Jones.

Cllr Werner agreed, saying: “The whole model of local government finance is broken.”

Impact on the budget

The deputy leader said there won’t be cuts to services because RBWM simply ‘can’t’.

“We’re too lean already, everything has already been cut,” said Cllr Jones. “Any significant cuts would impact our statutory services that we are legally obliged to [provide].”

Rather, the draft budget includes proposed increased spending of £14million, including:

• Adult social care: additional funding of £3.35million to support people to remain in their own homes and live a safe and independent life for as long as possible
• Children’s services: an additional amount of £5.65million will be invested to meet rising demand and costs of care placements
• Housing and temporary accommodation: an additional £1.88million funding to meet rising demand and costs, and transform housing services
• Maintenance budget boost: £1.17million aimed at improving borough parks, car parks, council owned buildings and other areas in need of repair.

“My number one complaint is that the verges and cemeteries aren’t being cut, so it’s absolutely vital we get that service back again,” said Cllr Werner.

“We want the Borough to look gorgeous. It’s in a fantastic position just outside London but in the countryside, it’s got an amazing set of schools – we just need to make sure the final piece of that jigsaw gets put in.

“Residents need to [be able to feel] that pride in where they’re living.”

Council tax

As for the burning question – how much council tax will go up by – the answer is unclear.

The most council tax can be raised by per year without permission from Government or a local referendum is 4.99 per cent.

Cllr Jones said that the council’s 8.99 per cent council tax rise last year was ‘equivalent in monetary terms’ to what other councils would get from raising it by 4.99 per cent.

RBWM says it is ‘clear the council will need to maximise any increase in council tax that can be agreed with Government’.

But the Fair Funding news has created much uncertainty.

“We just don’t know any more,” said Cllr Jones. “There’s no way we can make this budget final without significant support from the Government.”

Budget papers, which detail the council’s proposed expenditures and savings, were released on Monday (December 8) and will be considered by the cabinet on Tuesday, December 16.

Responding to concerns over the Fair Funding Review, previously a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said:

“We have made £69billion available for council finance, including £129.6million for Windsor and Maidenhead, and are making sure that cash going to councils is shared out in a fairer way that reflects their needs.

“We will fix the outdated and unfair funding system we inherited through the upcoming multi-year Settlement so that councils can deliver better public services.”