Budget given go ahead by councillors

Published 24 Feb 2010 12:21 7 Comments

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COUNCIL tax will be reduced in the Royal Borough after the budget was approved last night. (Tuesday)

Conservative councillors voted to approve the plans which will see Band D council tax fall by more than £41 - which is one of the biggest reductions in the country.

Lead member for finance Cllr Richard Kellaway said: "Our aim is to provide better services for less money and we have been able to achieve this unprecedented reduction by careful financial management. There is no magic wand - just meticulous scrutiny of our resources and making every penny work.

"Front line services are being protected but we have carried out a far-reaching restructure to make sure our back room support is as efficient as it can be. We are aiming to create a lean organisation that is fighting fit and able to maintain and improve the services our residents depend on every day of their lives.As a result of this budget our taxpayers will be better off by £209 since we came to power and I'm very proud of that."

However, during the full council meeting at Maidenhead Town Hall, Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors obstained from the vote claiming they had fears about the budget.

The opposition claimed the proposals failed to support the elderly and vulnerable in the borough and would see residents hit with stealth taxes.

Cllr Bruce Adams said: "For those on the lowest council tax band the cut in council tax amounts to 8p per day. Even if you want to try and save the pennies up, you won't be able to go for long before having to use cash to pay for the tory stealth taxes."

Redundancies were just one way in which the council has managed to save money. Other ways include re-tendering the school transport contract, introducing smart metering to help save energy in council buildings.

Leader of the Council David Burbage said: "Regrettably we had to face the fact that, in common with local authorities across the country, we could not manage the council effectively in the current economic climate without an impact on jobs.

"However, we have worked hard to keep redundancies to the absolute minimum and residents should be reassured that services will be maintained - and in many cases improved - using more efficient ways of working and equipping people with new skills.In this hard economic environment it's vital that people are left with as much of their own money as possible.

"Our council has proved that we can make public services better and cut tax at the same time. There's a huge amount of waste in the system and we should never forget that it's taxpayers' money we are spending,"he added.

The new budget also means continuing investment in projects such as a new lesiure centre in Cox Green and a new borough museum at Windsor's Guildhall.

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Jason Cross
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Feb 25, 15:28
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This is such good news, I'm in a band d and to be honest I'm glad of the £209 whatever anyone says. We are massively over taxed in this country and no one can afford it, especially in expensive parts of the country like Berkshire.

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Peter Hooper
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Feb 25, 17:18
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Personally I don't know where the £209 figure comes from; looks like a lot of political spin to me.

As for the £41 reduction on this years Band D Council Tax charge - thank you very much, BUT it still wouldn't make me vote for the Greedy, Selfish and Nasty Tories.

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Richard Coe
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Feb 25, 22:51
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Speaking for the other side of the debate I have been horriefied to hear from one old lady whose home care charges have risen by about 300% from what she has told me. Apparently the charges have risen over 50%

BUT

The basis of payment has changed - she needs two carers and whereas previously she paid one charge, she now has to pay per carer so that the amount she pays has risen over 300% - easily wiping out the £40 council tax cut in under a week.

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No baised voter
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Feb 26, 16:58
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Lib dems on the anti tory warpath again. Always negative. Us voters in windsor know your game. When will you realise that? Instead of slanging matches tell us what YOU would actually do and how.

Not now though...nobody actually cares what you lot think.

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Richard Coe
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Feb 26, 19:49
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"No baised (sic?) voter" What a shame that all you have to say is a personal attack, and you are too ashamed of that to put your name on it.

I think our policy is clear - locally we would seek to proctect vulnerable people from excessive care charge rises. This could be you, your parent, your granny.

Care charges in the Royal Borough will have risen from £11ph under the Lib Dems to £20ph under the Conservatives when the new system comes in. For those people who need two carers they will have risen from £11ph to £40ph.

Nationally we would allocate £2bn to put care for elderly people on the same basis as Health Care - free at the point of delivery based on need, not ability to pay.

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Money man
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Mar 1, 13:58
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Sadly there is only a certain amount of money in the pot to be spread about. the torys are the only party who seem to realise that.

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ben1691
2 posts
May 18, 20:10
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Another anonymous comment - I think most people understand there is only a limited amount of money in the pot - but under the local Conservatives Council tax is cut £40 whilst charges for everything else - car parking, day care, day centres, swimming etc go up.

The main advantage from the council tax cuts goes to people in the most expensive properties, whilst the cost of living for ordinary people who use council services goes up far more than the council tax goes down. Take for example the 1000% increase in charges for the frail elderly using Day centres. That wipes out their annual Council Tax cut in less than 6 hours.

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