"SLAP in the face” plans to impose large tax hikes for residents to help bail out a cash-strapped council have been heavily panned by opposition councillors.
On top of Slough Borough Council (SBC) selling up to £600m of its assets and making £20m annual savings this decade, it was granted its request to raise council tax by nearly 10 per cent from April without holding a local vote.
The local authority, which effectively declared bankruptcy in 2021 after it unearthed it had a £760m borrowing bill to pay off, said this rise is needed to keep the council financial afloat and protect services in a climate of high inflation.
READ MORE: Slough Council set to increase council tax by nearly 10%
Council tax is capped at 4.99 per cent and anything above the legal limit will require a referendum or the government’s approval. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove gave the Labour-run SBC, Conservative-held Thurrock, and Croydon the go-ahead to impose the levy above the cap.
The Slough Conservatives have slammed the ‘nonsensical’ proposal and accused Labour of not being ‘on the side of the people of Slough,’ adding they have seen ‘no evidence’ this 9.99 per cent rise will significantly change SBC’s dire financial position.
Tory leader Dexter Smith (Colnbrook with Poyle) said: “The Conservative Group will not be supporting these proposals to increase council tax in this way. This is imposing a Cost of Labour crisis on Slough residents, who are already experiencing financial hardship.
“Labour’s plan is to strip our town of our assets, and reduce council services to the bare minimum. It is Labour’s financial mismanagement which has led us to this point. Yet it is Slough residents who are being asked to pay more, to get less.”
Meanwhile, Independent councillor Madhuri Bedi (Foxborough), who left Slough Labour in 2021 over a 4.99 per cent council tax increase, said the 9.99 per cent rise is “disgusting” and a “slap in the face” to residents who will have to pay more for “sub-standard” services.
She also said residents living in poverty and those of middle-income won’t be able to afford the hike during the cost of living crisis. She cited herself as an example, saying she cannot afford the nearly 10 per cent hike.
READ MORE: Slough Council insists it will have low tax rate despite huge hike
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Bedi said: “There is just no care. This council is meant to be there for residents. Everything they do, every action they take is meant to be about residents. I don’t see that and, sadly, under this leadership I never have.”
She added: “What I will say to Slough is do not pay your council tax. How many bailiffs will they send out?
“Pay the five per cent but don’t pay 10 per cent because why should we?
“They [SBC] could say ‘we are really sorry for putting you in this situation but to support our town and future generations, we are going to have to go through these few years of hardship, but we are hand on heart sorry’. But they would never do that because they are too up in their own a****.”
The Slough Liberal Democrats were contacted for comment.
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