'There has to be another way' to tackle RBWM debt, says finance lead

The Royal Borough’s cabinet member for finance has insisted there ‘has to be another way’ to tackle its debt amid soaring borrowing.

Local authorities can borrow money from the Government to cover capital investments such as new schools, housing and infrastructure.

But the Royal Borough has also applied for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) to help cover a funding shortfall, which allows it to use borrowed money to cover day-to-day (revenue) spending.

In February this year, the Government approved an extra £103million of borrowing through EFS.

Last week, the BBC’s Shared Data Unit released an analysis examining the levels of net borrowing for all councils across the UK.

It used data taken from live local authority borrowing and investment tables published on the Government website.

According to the analysis, from the last quarter of the 2023/24 financial year, the Royal Borough had a total net borrowing of £189,465,000.

By the final quarter of 2024-25, the net borrowing figure had drastically increased to £258,465,000.

However, the figures do not consider the borough’s investments, which stood at nearly £35million at the end of the last quarter of 2024/25.

The analysis found the level of borrowing per person in RBWM is £1,664, which compares favourably to neighbouring Slough (£2,852), which has also had financial struggles.

The Royal Borough’s cabinet member for finance, Councillor Lynne Jones (OWRA, Old Windsor) said the money needs to be borrowed to cover ‘inherited’ financial issues from the previous Conservative administration.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDR), Cllr Jones said: “During the last few years, we have discovered historical accounting anomalies that we had to put right.

“Unless central Government funds councils for their statutory services, the ones we have to provide, adequately, I can’t see that debt going down unless we sell everything.

“We will not be able to clear that debt by savings alone, there has to be another way.

A Royal Borough spokesperson said the council has inherited ‘a challenging financial legacy’ while the costs of social services and housing keep increasing.

The spokesperson added: “We are making strong progress against our financial recovery plan.

“The increase in debt reflects strategic investment in infrastructure and services that support our community, and our debt per resident remains below the national average”

But Cllr Julian Sharpe, the deputy leader of the Conservative group, said that the current administration ‘does not have control of the finances yet’.

Cllr Sharpe said: “I think the borrowing that is being done at the moment is papering over the cracks. It’s quite clear that this administration hasn’t got hold of the finances correctly.

“They’re building up debts for the future which people will be paying for many years and they’re really letting down the residents of the Royal Borough.”

Cllr Sally Coneron, the leader of the RBWM Conservative group, said: “The Liberal Democrats keep trying to pin the blame on the past, but the truth is they have been running the council for nearly two years and the debt is getting worse, not better.

“At some point, they need to take responsibility instead of making excuses about ‘accounting anomalies’.”