Maidenhead & Windsor

Maidenhead Royal Borough residents look set to continue to benefit from one of the lowest unitary council tax levels in the country.

A report to next week's cabinet meeting (Thursday February 9) proposes a Maidenhead council tax increase of 4.9% for 2006/07. This represents a Band D rate of £957.59 – an increase of less than 90 pence a week – while the average council tax bill for England at Band D is anticipated to be more than £1,000.

Maidenhead Cllr David Eglise, lead member for resources, said the restrained increase was as a result of efficient and effective management.

He explained: "What appeared to be optimist headline figures issued by the government recently translated into a very small 2% increase towards funding Royal Borough services. The council has had to make tough budgetary decisions to achieve a balance between meeting the service expectations of the community and how much we can ask residents to pay in council tax, especially those who are less well-off.

"That said, we have been particularly mindful of the need to protect and improve services for the more vulnerable members of our community. If it wasn't for the fact that the Royal Borough has an effective and efficiently-run council, the overall increases would have been significantly higher."

A key element in realising this year's budget was the Maidenhead council's working with partner organisations – police, health and the voluntary sector – to identify ways of pooling resources and expertise to provide even better value for money.

The Maidenhead council also ran a borough-wide consultation last September to get residents' views and their feedback has helped direct funds into the services they highlighted as important to their community and quality of life.

The consultation demonstrated that community safety is the top priority for local people and the cabinet's revenue budget proposals set out to ensure that the local environment is kept safe and clean, while also concentrating on protecting services for vulnerable people. At the same time a fresh look has been taken at the capital programme and the need to improve school buildings and local roads.

Maidenhead Cllr Eglise pointed to the Delivering Excellence programme, which is committed to improving services and financial efficiency. He said that changing the way the council works, with front-line enquiries now being handled by the new customer service centre, would increase efficiency and effectiveness. The CSC would eventually encompass the vast majority of council services and produce year-on-year savings.

He said the Maidenhead Royal Borough was also in the vanguard of local authorities where procurement of goods and services was concerned, adopting new electronic purchasing methods and working with other councils to get the best value for money. Significant savings had already been achieved and more would follow.

Maidenhead Cllr Eglise added: "It has been with everyone's help and hard work that we have been able to prioritise our valuable resources, make efficiencies yet maintain quality services to meet the needs of residents."

Following next Thursday's meeting, cabinet proposals will go to full council for discussion and decision on Tuesday February 21.

The proposed 4.9% increase is for the Royal Borough's element of the council tax and does not include precepts for parish councils, Thames Valley Police or the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead