The Government has approved a request for exceptional financial support from Slough Borough Council and RBWM ‘in principle’, to help the local authorities set a balanced budget.
Councils can apply for a capitalisation direction from the Government – otherwise known as Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) – to help them handle financial pressures.
For the 2026/27 financial year, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead will be allowed to borrow £48.75million ‘in principle’, the Government confirmed yesterday (Monday).
In February last year, RBWM also received permission for £103million of EFS.
The budget papers for 2026/27 and the medium term are set to be discussed at a Royal Borough cabinet meeting this evening (Tuesday).
The papers said: “The only option for the council to bridge the funding gap is to utilise EFS.
“EFS is a poor mechanism for dealing with the financial challenges facing local government, given that is effectively more borrowing which increases revenue costs.
“However, it is currently the only mechanism on offer from Government to local authorities.”
Council tax increases are also typically capped at 4.99 per cent. Any increases above this need to be agreed in a local referendum or signed off by the Government.
The Government gave the Royal Borough ‘flexibility’ to increase its council tax by 7.49 per cent earlier this month.
Currently, income generated from council tax makes up around 75 per cent of RBWM’s funding, the budget report said.
It added that by 2029/2030 it is expected council tax will make up 96 per cent of funding.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), RBWM’s finance lead member, Councillor Lynne Jones said: “[The Government] has given us the EFS we need to produce a balanced budget.
“That does increase our borrowing and our borrowing costs, which is not good news for residents because we go into more debt.
“What the Government really needs to do is review its decision around the Fair Funding [Review] and not take all of our Government funding away from us. That’s what they need to do to put us in a stable position.”
The Labour Government launched its Fair Funding Review 2.0 reforms last year, with the aim of directing more funding to local authorities in deprived areas across the country.
RBWM will be £30million ‘worse off’ because of the Fair Funding Review by 2028/29, according to the budget papers.
In contrast, Slough’s budget for 2026/27 is also ‘dependent’ on the £42.9million of EFS it has requested from the Government, the council’s finance lead, councillor Puja Bedi, said.
However, at a corporate improvement scrutiny committee meeting earlier this month, she said: “Our overarching aim since 2023 has been to put this council on the path to standing on its own two feet.
“In this budget we’re clearly showing that that is within our reach now and is our objective.”
Councillors will be asked to approve the budget papers for 2026/27 and the medium-term financial strategy to 2028/29 at a full council meeting on Thursday (February 26).
The papers set out that Slough will also request £22.4million of EFS for 2027/28, but ‘no further reliance’ on EFS is planned for 2028/29.
Slough’s council tax cap is expected to be kept at the 4.99 per cent cap for the 2026/27 financial year.
