Councillor defends 9% council tax rise

Councillor Lynne Jones says the increase in tax was needed

A councillor has said council tax needed to rise "significantly" because services were already cut "to the bone".

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council voted to raise council tax by 8.99%, after receiving government permission to prevent it going bankrupt.

The council was one of only six cash-strapped authorities that were allowed to introduce a higher council tax hike.

Deputy council leader Lynne Jones said: "We are at rock bottom, staff have been cut and we as an organisation are struggling to provide our statutory services."

Ms Jones said between 2010 and 2016 reductions year on year to council tax had left the council with a gap in income yearly of £30m.

She said: "That is huge, that's a huge amount of money.

"Over the years the council has tried to live within that means and has run up a huge debt of £230m.

"We've got the lowest council tax in most of the rest of the other councils."

Paul Berry feels the previous government kept taxes down for political reasons

Paul Berry, from Maidenhead, said: "I think the Conservatives have kept it down for a long period probably for political reasons rather than practical reasons so we are behind where we should be."

Resident Jacinta said she did not understand how the council has managed to spend so much money.

"Surely, there should have been a limit or someone telling them stop spending," she said.

Kate Thomas, a florist, said: "With more and more empty shops in Maidenhead what measures are they going to put in place to help us survive."

Pensioner Graham Charles said he is very concerned about the increase

Graham Charles said he wanted to know where all the money had gone.

"I'm an old age pensioner, like every old age pensioner we are struggling to pay things, everyday bills that we've got to pay," he said.

Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics, said what was happening in the borough was quite common.

He said: "There's a broader pattern in more councils now coming forward asking for exceptional treatment.

"Over the last 10 or more years their finances have got to the point were they feel they can't provide a full range of services without either putting up the council tax by more than the 4.99%, that the government caps them at, or selling off assets."