Local taxpayers can no longer 'shoulder the burden' of costly state visits, says council

The Royal Borough has insisted local taxpayers cannot continue to ‘shoulder the burden’ of state visits as Windsor Castle prepares to host another world leader.

Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is set to stay at the castle during a state visit to the UK next month.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will host President Tinubu and the First Lady Oluremi Tinubu for a two-day visit from March 18-19.

This will be the fourth state visit to take place in the town in less than a year.

Last year it hosted French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and an unprecedented second state visit by US President Donald Trump.

Windsor has become the focal point for major diplomatic events because Buckingham Palace is undergoing a £350million refurbishment.

This is not without its controversy. The visits have come amid warnings from both the Royal Borough and police about the costs.

Overall, the council’s bill for staging recent state visits reached £350,000.

In October, Freedom of Information requests revealed that the council spent £160,000 supporting President Macron’s visit – covering crowd barriers, stewarding and road closures.

President Trump’s visit cost the council £37,000.

In both cases, the FOI team said it expected the Government ‘to fully reimburse the costs’ and that expenses claims were still being processed.

But this week, the council said its costs for the last three state visits have still not been reimbursed – and it has ‘no assurance for the funding of future visits.’

“The council is now in a position where it is unable to continue to support the delivery of these visits,” a spokesperson said.

“Quite simply, local taxpayers can’t continue to be expected to shoulder the burden.”

A red flag was first raised in November, when the council’s cabinet member for finance, Cllr Lynne Jones, said these costs risked ‘a detrimental impact’ on the borough’s services.

Police, too, have complaints. Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Matthew Barber, wrote to the Home Secretary this week about the issue.

He said the state visits pull officers away from other policing duties – and residents end up saddled with the costs.

Though the Home Office will meet costs such as equipment hire, he said, it does not fund the cost of officer time.

For President Trump’s visit last year, the force was unable to reclaim around £900,000. Council taxpayers are ‘left short-changed as a result,’ Mr Barber said.

As such, he demanded that the Home Office reconsider these ‘flawed funding arrangements’.

“Despite the move of many big events from central London whilst Buckingham Palace is being refurbished, the Metropolitan Police still receive a share of more than £250million in capital cities grants which helps the police to deal with the extra burden of large-scale events,” he said.

In response, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We and the police have long-standing arrangements in place to ensure state visits are run safely and securely, while regular policing continues across communities.

“Thames Valley Police will receive additional costs linked to this state visit, and these will be recovered through standard major event procedures.”

Maidenhead MP Joshua Reynolds asked about state visit costs in Parliament in January.

In response, Chris Elmore, parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said: “The costs of state visits have historically been shared across a number of departments and agencies.

“The allocation of costs for visits hosted at Windsor Castle is currently under review, and we will keep the [Mr Reynolds] informed on the outcome.”