For the past two budget debates I have raised concerns about sustainability, transparency and whether residents are truly seeing value for the money they pay.
In 2024, I said a technically balanced budget was not the same as a secure one.
In 2025, I said we were moving from long-term planning to reactive crisis management, and that residents were being asked to pay more while services declined.
This year, I am saying the same thing.
Not because it is convenient, but because the structural problem remains.
I want to acknowledge the work of officers. This is a complex budget prepared under immense pressure. I do not dispute that it is legally balanced.
But legality is not the same as sustainability.
At Cabinet, the Chief Executive said there is no pathway to sustainability under the current settlement and described the situation as perverse.
Those are serious words.
When the council’s own leadership says there is no pathway, we should take that seriously.
Yes, national funding changes have made this harder. Yes, Exceptional Financial Support creates a circular model of borrowing to fill a funding gap. But we must be honest about where this leaves us.
Next year’s gap is £49 million. Over the medium term it exceeds £100 million. Debt servicing is projected to reach around a quarter of the annual budget.
That is not resilience.
That is fragility.
Tonight, we are voting on a one-year budget. But it sits within a medium-term plan that assumes a minimum 10 percent council tax rise next year and further substantial increases after that.
Taken together, that amounts to at least 42 percent over five years.
The Leader himself said that increases at that level would be
AB-OM-IN-ABLE in the current climate.
If that is the case, then the assumptions in the medium-term plan must align with that position.
If 10 percent is not realistic, the plan is not realistic.
And if it is realistic, residents deserve clarity now.
We are told our council tax remains the lowest in Berkshire.
But affordability is not a league table.
For many households, the question is not how we compare with other councils. It is whether they can afford another increase at all.
And what are residents getting in return?
This budget does not deliver additional neighbourhood services. It does not transform town centres or neighbourhoods. It funds statutory demand.
People look at their streets, their public spaces and their local centres and ask a simple question: if we are paying more every year, why does it not feel better?
Paying more to go backwards is not good value.
This may balance the books for one year.
But it does not address the underlying weakness.
Residents deserve better than rising bills without visible improvement. They deserve honesty, realism and a credible route to stability.
For those reasons, I cannot support this budget.
Thank you.
A video of my speech can be found below – if you want to watch the whole meeting you can find it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hJ0ZzMh7bc
Cllr Alison Carpenter
Clewer & Dedworth East ward