POLITICAL leaders have clashed over the draft budget after opposition members said the identified £12m savings are based on “fantasy numbers”.

At a cabinet meeting last week, Royal Borough council leader Andrew Johnson (Con: Hurley & Walthams) said the 2023/24 draft budget is “balanced” and that other local authorities are “envious” of the council’s financial position.

The budget proposes to hike up council tax by 4.99 per cent as well as make £12m savings, which is about £5m more than what was originally predicted earlier this year.

But within the saving proposals, some of the bids include the wording ‘review, ‘develop,’ or ‘establish,’ meaning the detail of that particular saving is not fully known yet.

An example of this is ‘reviewing’ children in care placements where ‘appropriate’ changes in provision and reduction in costs could make a £1.8m saving.

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Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Liberal Democrat leader Simon Werner (Pinkneys Green) said: “They [the Conservatives] are saying it’s currently a balanced budget but it’s made up of fantasy numbers because they say they’re going to save £1m doing a review but they have no idea how much it’s going to save if it’s going to save any money at all because they haven’t done the review.

“They just made up a series of figures to pretend the budget is balanced.”

Meanwhile, Independent leader Lynne Jones (Old Windsor) said some of those savings are “not viable” until the review is finished within the two-and-a-half-month window officers have until the final budget is presented to show it is achievable.

She said: “You cannot and should not be calling an indicative budget a balanced budget yet because it is only indicative, and £12m savings is huge. I think that’s the biggest amount we had to look at in the whole time I’ve been here.”

The council, like other local authorities, is waiting on the government to confirm its funding settlement for the 2023/24 financial year, which should be known around Christmas time. Cllr Werner believes if the settlement is less than favourable, then the council could be on the edge of bankruptcy.

Slough Observer:

But Cllr Johnson said the council is “far from bankruptcy” and given that the Royal Borough receives “very little” from government, they will look at “other areas” to maintain the budget as balanced.

He also said the savings have been signed off by officers as “realistic” and “achievable,” and the proposals will be “tested” at scrutiny.

Cllr Johnson said: “The comments made by two senior members of the opposition really are a clear indicator of an opposition bereft of any ideas or genuine alternatives to the proposals we have put forward, or the broad approach we have followed since late 2019 when I became leader.

“The fact that a number of them voted for the current budget we have demonstrates that secretly they know we are taking the right approach and they have nothing better to offer.

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“Moreover, it shows a disturbing lack of understanding from supposedly experienced councillors of how the council develops its budget and the role of officers in ensuring that our proposals are credible to deliver a balanced budget.

“This does not bode well. We on the other hand have presented a draft balanced 2023/24 budget for scrutiny and review and are one of the first councils to do so.”