Former Conservative council leaders in Windsor and Maidenhead have defended their decision to cut council tax after warnings that this has left the Royal Borough at risk of bankruptcy.

A new report into the council’s finances by public sector accounting group CIPFA says the Royal Borough is on the brink of effective bankruptcy and must take urgent action. It says the reasons for this include decisions to cut council tax ‘significantly’ since 2010.

But Conservatives – now in opposition – have said they kept council tax low ‘to support hard-working residents’.

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They say they ‘maintained tighter financial control’ and ‘avoided budget deficits’ when they were in charge. And they accuse the council’s current Liberal Democrat-led coalition of failing to control spending and delaying action.

Conservative group leader Maureen Hunt said: “Under Liberal Democrat control, fiscal discipline has collapsed, and it’s the residents who will pay the price with tax increases.

“The Liberal Democrats have pursued a strategy of delay and minimization of development of taxpayer owned land. This is costing the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds.”

The Conservatives say that they had ‘clear plans’ to reduce the council’s debt – which grew while they were in charge – based on money received from property development.

One of the most significant is a deal to sell the Maidenhead Golf Course to developer Cala Homes for a development of 1,500 homes, which could bring in £105.28 million.

But the CIPFA report says the council us unlikely to received some £78.8 million of this before 2030. It says that it is ‘important that the golf course is to go ahead’ and that a plan to raise more money by selling off council property is essential to avoid bankruptcy.

But the report also says that potential changes to the golf course development mean the council can’t rely on the hoped-for benefits.

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And it criticises previous years’ council tax cuts, as well as evidence of accounting errors by senior staff under the Conservative leadership. The Conservatives say the accounting errors ‘must be fully investigated’.

The CIPFA report says: “Decisions dating back to 2010 to cut council tax significantly year on year for a period of six years – and then freeze if for a further two years - which has left the council’s baseline around £30m lower than if council tax increases had kept pace with average rises across the country.”

Leading councillors on the Royal Borough’s cabinet committee are set to discuss the report on Wednesday October 30.