RESIDENTS could see a large council tax bill as bosses of a debt-ridden local authority will ask the government if it can increase the levy past the legal limit.

Slough Borough Council (SBC) is to ask the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities if it could raise the levy above 4.99 per cent for the next two years without going to a referendum.

A precise figure is not known yet and will be worked out later as SBC is only asking the government if it would accept its request in principle before the details are ironed out.

But if SBC raised council tax by another one per cent, it would raise an additional £600,000.

The council effectively declared bankruptcy last year after it discovered it was £760m in borrowing debt. It has to sell up to £600m of its assets and make £20m savings every year for the next seven years.

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Chancellor of Exchequers Jeremy Hunt announced in his Autumn Statement that all local authorities could raise council by 4.99 per cent without going to a referendum. Previously, it could only be raised by 2.99 per cent, and raising it above this cap would require a local vote.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Monday, December 19, council leader James Swindlehurst (Lab: Cippenham Green) said raising the cap may be necessary if government funding is less than generous in the 2023/24 financial year to fill budget blackholes caused by inflation.

The council fears it may not be able to deliver further savings needed without going through the proper processes and scrutiny in order to stay financially afloat.

Cllr Swindlehurst said: “I don’t think we’re necessarily desirous about doing it but the point about doing it is that if the settlement does not appear to be what we need it to be, then going over details over the next few days and Christmas, it allows us to pursue that option in time to set a viable budget that doesn’t leave us in a worse position once it’s set.”

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He added: “I think given the scale of cost of living pressures and everything, there’s no certainty they [government] would allow us the power but if you don’t ask, you certainly won’t get.”

However, Cllr Swindlehurst remained confident that the council is turning itself around from the £172m assets sold so far and the changes to its governance and departments.