Residents across Bracknell Forest will pay 4.99% more council tax next year after councillors were forced to cut services to balance the budget — a result they blame on a government funding formula that penalises affluent areas.
To avoid borrowing, the council has announced these savings:
- £248,000 — axing bus services 299, 598 and 151/151A, which are uneconomical and poorly used (some single trips cost the council more than £16 each).
- £380,000 — delaying kerbside glass collections from autumn 2026 to March 2027.
- £50,000 (2026–27) — finding grants and commercial investment to fund climate projects.
- £275,000 — reviewing the Better Care Fund with NHS partners, prioritising intermediate care and rehabilitation services.
In 2025 Bracknell raised £84,515,000 through council tax, so the 4.99% increase should generate around £4,217,000.
The council says the new "Fairer Funding Formula" gives more cash to areas with higher deprivation and lower property values. Affluent south-east authorities like Bracknell are judged to have high "revenue-raising capacity" and have seen central government grants cut.
At the budget meeting on Wednesday 25 February, councillors from across the chamber voiced frustration. Cabinet member for finance Paul Bidwell (Labour, Easthampstead & Wildridings) said: "This falls well short of the level our residents need and deserve."
Cllr Mc Lean (Con, Whitegrove) said: "The government is taking £18m away from the residents of Bracknell Forest." Cllr Gareth Barnard (Con, Warfield) added: "When you talk about a modest council tax rise, 4.99 percent is not modest, it’s what the government expects us to do and it’s above inflation."
Barnard also partly blamed the local MP, saying: "I remember election slogans in 2024, when Peter Swallow [MP] doing his rounds of Bracknell, in hustings and things, promised change for Bracknell Forest. Well we all know in this council chamber now, what that change looks like. Ineffective lobbying lead to us receiving absolutely no additional money over the next three years and the worst settlement."
Cllr Mclean concluded: "The lights will be going off across Bracknell Forest." The council leader Mary Temperton responded: "Lights will not go out in Bracknell, because once reported in, they will be fixed."
The Band D council tax for 2026/27 across Bracknell Forest will be: Bracknell £1,891.97; Binfield £1,848.70; Crowthorne £1,889.66; Sandhurst £1,866.41; Warfield £1,844.86; Winkfield £1,868.37.
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
