Job losses, cuts and the threat of bankruptcy loom over West Berkshire Council after a Government funding shake-up.
The council is drawing up redundancy plans ahead of a special meeting on Thursday, with budget papers due next Tuesday. Next week it will also ask for more emergency Government funding.
Council leaders say the Government’s so-called ‘unfair funding review’ has left West Berkshire among the hardest hit, with at least £28m less from central Government over the next three years and year-on-year reductions expected.
Conservative group leader Ross Mackinnon will boycott a meeting to debate sending a letter to Government. He said: “there isn’t a cat in hell’s chance of this motion gaining more funds for West Berkshire from the settlement. But there’s a huge risk it stops the next bailout – which means bankruptcy”. “We will have no part in such a reckless, foolhardy pantomime,” he added.
Lib Dem council leader Jeff Brooks hit back: “It looks like the no-show Tories are not prepared to support the council to make representation to the Government for a better deal. I am disappointed in them and so should the residents be.” He says the settlement gives the council one of the lowest increases nationally – just over a third of the average increase for councils – leaving less money even if council tax rises by the maximum 4.99% each year.
Reading West and Mid Berkshire Labour MP Olivia Bailey welcomed the settlement, saying the council is “getting a large funding boost under the Local Government Funding Settlement”. She says West Berkshire will receive a £19.5m cash injection for essential services, an 11% increase in spending power, part of the first multi-year settlement in over a decade that gives councils three years of “financial certainty”.
The review has also changed how business rates are shared, with an increasing share being redistributed elsewhere rather than kept in the district. Critics say the changes aim to help ‘left behind’ places in the North and Midlands but have penalised some wealthier areas like West Berkshire.
If a council cannot set a balanced budget it can seek Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from central Government. EFS involves an independent external review and, if needed, adoption of a financial recovery programme. West Berkshire is already in receipt of £16m of EFS and is trying to produce a balanced budget for 2026/27, including a public consultation.
An independent CIPFA report into the council’s finances warned that roles and responsibilities between politicians and officers are blurred, undermining accountability, and said the council’s spending programme is “unaffordable”.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
