Wokingham’s council tax to rise 4.99%

WOKINGHAM residents will be asked to pay an additional 4.99% on their council tax this coming financial year, with the bulk of the increase going on a social care for adults and children.

According to research, more than three-quarters of councils are increasing their bills by the maximum possible.

While the increase is around half the rate of inflation, local authorities across the country have been forced to tighten belts and look for savings.

The average Band D Council Tax for 2023/24, including the fire service precept, police precept and average parish council precept is proposed to be £1,751.84.

Wokingham Borough Council remains the lowest funded in the country, as the government’s settlement grant – used to help pay for services – is set at £1.8m. This means the council is forced to look elsewhere for income, as council tax is not enough to cover all of the council’s expenditure.

The council says it has saved almost £12million in service efficiencies, of which over £10million comes from cost reductions.

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It has approved an additional £100,000 to help those who may experience financial difficulties in paying their council tax.

The council has also set aside £250,000 to help those struggling to afford the basics as the long winter draws on during this cost-of-living crisis.

The figures will be voted on a special meetings of the Executive and the Council this evening.

The leader of the council, Cllr Clive Jones, said his party had been working on the budget since they took over the council.

“The Tories had told us before last May’s local elections that we had a Rolls Royce of a council that was financially very sound, very sound and had no issues,” he said. “The first thing we were told on taking office was we had a problem of £4 million for the current year, no funding bus services, or to finish Winnersh Park and Ride.

“Do you want caddy liners? There’s no budget to spend £150,000 on them.”

The Conservatives dispute this, but Cllr Jones pointed to a document he was given after his first meeting showing these figures.

Some costs, such as the caddy liners, had been affected by the rising costs of plastics.

“When you have less funding coming from central government and massive increased in statutory things you’ve got to do it means you’ve got less money to spend on other areas.”

The executive member for finance, Cllr Imogen Shepherd-Dubey, said the Lib Dem group was proud that it had extended the council tax relief scheme to help low income households whether the financial storms.

“I think we’ve done a lot with transparency as well,” she said of their budget preparations.

“There is more in the public realm for people to see. I’m asking for the budgets of our wholly owned subsidiary companies, like Opatlis and Loddon Homes, to be published on our website along with our own accounts so the public can see where the money is going.

“But just staying on top of the budget, and producing a balanced budget has been a mammoth task, its not been simple at all, and that in itself has been quite a remarkable achievement.”

This, she added, was because “the council’s budget is a complex process especially with inadequate funding, increasing costs and growing financial pressures. However, we will make cuts wherever possible to make the savings needed to fulfil our commitment to keep all our residents safe and protect vital council services.

“We have made £11.8million in service efficiencies, which is helping to limit the impact on Council Tax payers, but low government funding, at a time when costs are rising significantly, has made the it impossible to avoid Council Tax increases.”

The work has taken so long because of the constantly changing picture, with inflation and the situation in Ukraine, plus the changes in government, all affecting budget plans.

“It has been a relentless push all the way through, mainly because of inflation,” Cllr Shepherd-DuBey said.

“We could see that have to make some serious adult decisions, and we did.

“It’s important to remember that during 2021, the Conservatives took more than £3.5 million out of our reserves, and had not made a plan to restore it.

“It was £12.5 million and it’s now down £9 million when it was handed to us. That is not good business practice – it is not a good way to run a council, consuming your way through your reserves.”

Some of the investments the Conservative made, such as the town centre regeneration and buying the Waitrose stores in Twyford and Woodley, have worked well, which helps bring in income.

“The investment portfolio as a whole is making money for the council, and that is why we haven’t messed with it,” Cllr Shepherd DuBey said.

“But if wanted to sell some of the properties, we would not get back what paid for them, so we’re having to hold on to them.”

Cllr Clive Jones said: “Everything we do is costing more money and we have had to make the tough decisions to ensure we are meeting the needs of our residents who look to us for support during these difficult times.

“For many years Wokingham Borough has not received its fair share of funding from central government. We receive about £30million a year less than if we were funded at the national average at a time when additional funding is needed to help us balance the books.

“The Government has created a terrible economic situation for us all – prices going up and up, and people are desperate for support and yet they refuse to help and instead put all the responsibility on local government and local taxpayers.

“We completely understand that Council Tax increases are going to hit people hard and that is why we have found an extra £100,000 to reduce the impact on those worst effected and have set aside £250,000 to support those most in need.

“We have also made huge saving and efficiencies to reduce the impact. But the fact is that we must find the money to help those who need us most and to balance our books so we don’t go bankrupt as other councils have done – with dire consequences for their residents.”

Reports from tonight’s council meeting will be online at Wokingham.today