Slough Borough Council to increase council tax by 9.99%

Council tax in Slough is set to rise by nearly 10% in April

A local authority has been given the go-ahead to impose a council tax increase of double last year's rate.

Slough Borough Council plans to impose the rise of 9.99% to help balance its books amid high inflation.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in his Autumn Statement that all local authorities could raise council tax by 4.99% without going to a referendum.

Previously, it could only be increased by 2.99%, above which would have required a local vote.

The Berkshire council declared bankruptcy last year after it discovered it was £760m in borrowing debt.

It needs to sell up to £600m of its assets and make £20m savings every year for the next seven years to plug the financial hole.

The council made the request to raise council tax by more than 4.99% - without holding a referendum - in a letter to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities last month, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The increase means the council tax paid on an average band D property in Slough will rise to nearly £2,040 in April.

The council said in a statement: "Even with this increase, the average council tax band D in Slough is very likely to remain the third-lowest among the seven neighbouring councils."

Rob Anderson, council lead for financial oversight, said: "Given the need to get the council back on a sound financial footing and with inflation over 10%, this increase was unavoidable if we wanted to protect our services.

"We are not alone in this and a number of other authorities have done the same."

The Labour councillor said as a result of the increase, the authority would provide a "more generous" council tax support scheme to help those most in need.

The council said it estimated that some 3,500 (about 38%) of households with the lowest incomes and currently paying 20% would not need to pay any council tax in 2023/24 should their circumstances remain the same.