Numerous council charges are set to increase early after councillors agreed to bring forward the rises as part of a plan to tackle the authority’s financial woes.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s cabinet agreed to the early increase in council fees for a range of services from social care to venue hire at the Windsor Guildhall.

Finance lead councillor Lynne Jones said: “An action plan to address the financial challenge for this financial year was agreed at cabinet and subsequently at full council.

“As part of that action plan, one of the actions was to maximise income on fees and charges.”

Councillors considered a report outlining the range of fees and charges earmarked for increase.

The officers’ report reads: “The Royal Borough continues to have the lowest council tax in the country, outside of London. The low level of council tax results in an inability to raise funds to the same amount as other councils and provides the council with a lower level of income with which to fund services.

“This means that we need to look to other sources of income, to allow us to achieve a balanced budget.

“Our residents benefit from having lower council tax bills than households in neighbouring areas. However, this needs to be balanced by generating revenue from higher fees and charges in other areas, in order to support the delivery of essential services.”

It comes following a pledge from councillor Jones in September that the authority would do “everything we can” to avoid having to issue a Section 114 notice.

If a Section 114 notice were issued, it would declare the council effectively bankrupt and no longer able to meet its spending commitments.

Councillor Jones noted an “ever-increasing” gap in council tax rates with neighbouring authorities, adding: “We’re forced to look at over areas to cover the increasing costs, especially in statutory services where inflation has caused those costs to increase enormously.

“That necessitates looking at other ways to raise income. It’s not something we want to do, but the historic decisions have put us into this position.”

Changes to the charges are set to be implemented on January 1, 2024, while a public consultation is also set to be held and proposed changes to parking fees.