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Another year of above-average council tax rises?

Patrick O'Hagan
BBC Berkshire political reporter
BBC Shot of a generic council tax bill printed on white paper. No numbers or dates are on the image itself BBC
Council tax bills in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead are expected to exceed the government's 5% cap for the second year in a row.

Just weeks after receiving new higher council tax bills for this year, people in Windsor and Maidenhead are being warned to expect more of the same in 2026.

Bills in the Royal Borough went up by just under 9% last month. Councillors are already making it clear the chances of limiting council tax rises to the government's traditional cap of 5% are slim to non-existent.

The Borough says it's £30 million short of the money it needs every year to run all the services it has to provide.

While stopping short of promising that it won't cut any services to make up for the shortfall, the local authority is beginning to draw up plans on how it can bring more money into the council's coffers.

The Royal Borough's deputy leader Lynne Jones says its also looking at how much more money it can save by making its back office more efficient and says: 'I really can't see any opportunities for cuts to services', adding that 'there is no cutting to be done, it's all been done already'.

The council is already in talks with the government over the problems it says it expects to face next year and will put in an official request for extra within the next few days.

Head on picture of Lynne Jones, the Deputy Leader at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Taken against a simple white backdrop she's wearing a blue jacket and a white top and has a slight smile on her face.
Lynne Jones, deputy leader at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

It's also trying to get an early message out to tax payers.

Tony Travers is a professor in public policy at the London School of Economics and he says: 'The bills for this current year only went out last month and here we are in mid to late May discussing 2026 to 2027.

"It sounds to me that the council knows it's going to be a challenging year and are getting the electorate ready for the need to apply to the government, either for an above average -so well over 5% I presume- council tax rise, or some sort of other exceptional they will be lobbying central government for".

The borough says that while it hopes to avoid cuts to front line services in 2026 it is looking at how it can deliver nearly £6 million of savings over the coming year.

The fine print of how it expects to achieve this will be presented to council leaders and bosses in September.

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