Reading West and Mid Berkshire’s Labour MP Olivia Bailey has doubled down on her criticism of West Berkshire Council after refusing to back the authority’s appeal to the Government. The appeal, due this Tuesday, will set out how much more the council needs to borrow to sustain services; it has already announced a redundancy programme.
"Residents in West Berkshire deserve decent services from their council," she said. "West Berkshire need to put a plan in place to deliver this. "It is disappointing having received a £16m bailout from Government last year, that West Berkshire Council’s finances are still in a precarious state. "And it is worrying that a recent report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants [CIPFA] stated that responsibilities are blurred and council’s spending programme is unaffordable."
The CIPFA report classifies current council spending as "unaffordable" and warns of a "perilous financial position" due to a structural budget gap.
Newbury’s Liberal Democrat MP Lee Dillon is backing the council and attended last week’s meeting to offer support. He sits on the Housing, Local Government and Communities Select Committee, which will ultimately decide whether appeals from councils for more cash succeed. The committee is proportionally made up of Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative MPs, so it is unlikely he will command a majority, and it probably won’t consider local government finances for a few months.
"The council’s financial position is set to worsen considerably because of the decision of the Labour Government to take more money which is created locally to redistribute to other councils," said Mr Dillon. "But until the Government tackle SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] and social care pressures this will continue to build."
West Berkshire Council faces a projected debt of up to £37m over SEND provision, with in-year overspends exceeding £7m annually. Around three quarters of its budget is spent on adult social care, which is increasing.
It has also emerged the council is among the hardest hit nationally on business rates retention: it must return all but 13 per cent of the business rates it collects to the Treasury — about £87m.
Ms Bailey says the local government settlement announced in December ends 14 years of underfunding under coalition and Tory Governments. "The multi-year settlement gives councils three years of financial certainty so they can plan ahead rather than firefight year to year – restoring stability and increasing council’s spending power," she said. "This follows the immediate action that Labour took to reverse years of Tory decline with a 6.8 per cent cash terms increase for 2024/25."
The council warns reduced funding from Government will mean it has less to spend on essential services even if it raises council tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent each year. Over the next three years West Berkshire will receive at least £28m less from central Government, following the trend of annual decreases Ms Bailey referred to.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
