𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗕𝗪𝗠’𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝘅

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has confirmed the government’s decisions regarding our 2025/26 budget request. Here’s what it means for residents:

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 with a budget of £𝟭𝟮𝟳𝗺

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝟵% for 2025/26 (𝟰% above the usual cap)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴

The council had a plan to fix its long-term financial problems, but instead, we now have to 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 to cover the shortfall. While this avoids the originally proposed 𝟮𝟱% 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲, it does 𝗻𝗼𝘁 solve the underlying financial challenges. More debt means 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 in the future, making it even harder to fix the problem later on.

I welcome the fact that a 𝟮𝟱% 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, as it would have placed an unbearable burden on many residents. However, to secure the council’s financial future, we must explore alternative solutions , such as:

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 (which made up 77% of the budget last year)

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

𝗘𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱

𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆?

One positive opportunity from this situation is the chance to rethink how we support and sustain our non-statutory services—those extra services that improve life in our borough but aren’t legally required. We should explore how some of these could become more 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 and self-sustaining, ensuring they can continue 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

We need to work on a 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 to keep our borough financially secure, rather than relying on short-term fixes that push the problem further down the road.

#RBWM #CouncilTax #localgovernment #SustainableFuture

Cllr Alison Carpenter
Clewer & Dedworth East ward