West Berkshire has been placed in the bottom three of councils nationally for how much business rates income it gets to keep, councillors heard at an extraordinary meeting in Newbury last night.
The meeting immediately followed a private session that approved redundancy payments of up to £1.7m.
“We will only get to keep 13p of every £1 we collect of business rates a loss of £17m pa, which places us in the bottom three of unitary authorities in the country,” explained Iain Cottingham (Lib Dem, Thatcham Central), finance portfolio holder,
“With Wokingham retaining 5p in the pound and Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 1p below us and Bracknell Forest and Reading just above us also significantly losing out.
“On behalf of wider Berkshire residents this doesn’t feel very fair to base central government funding of unitary authorities on a blunt metric such as deprivation.”
The settlement cuts the council’s funding by £28m over three years – a 26 per cent reduction – while slashing the share of business rates it can retain.
“This means the income we will have to spend to support the residents of West Berkshire will be down by an eye-watering £33m in real terms. This would obviously lead to more cuts and more borrowing.”
Council leader Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) warned 30 councils – about 20 per cent of unitary authorities in England – have already had to seek government financial support.
“We will be presenting our budget in the next few weeks to show how this borrowing is necessary to protect our residents and their services,” he said. “We are already making choices that keep us awake at night. To take more from a community that is already giving so much feels less like a formula and more like a foreclosure on our future.”
Justin Pemberton (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) said the funding formula punishes success.
“We have always had an instinctive drive to attract businesses to West Berkshire.
“But this formula creates a heartbreaking paradox.
“Every new business brings demands – infrastructure, transport, services.
“If we can only keep 13 per cent of the reward while shouldering 100 per cent of the pressure, we are being asked to subsidise growth that we cannot afford to sustain.
“It is a disincentive to be ambitious.
“It punishes the very success we are told to strive for.”
The Conservative group boycotted the debate on a motion to write to the Government, calling it pointless, while the Greens noted the appeal deadline had already passed.
Martin Colston (Lib Dem, Newbury Central) criticised the absent Tory leadership and took a swipe at their radio comments about money leaving the area.
“He was quite happy to pronounce on the radio that ‘money was pouring out of West Berkshire and this needs to stop’, but not willing to back that up in person here tonight,” said Colston. “At least the famous Tub of Lard actually put in an appearance on that Have I Got News For You episode many years ago – tonight there is simply no-one across the chamber from the main opposition – no leader, no deputy leader and no team; just a total absence.”
The mood in the chamber was sombre as councillors prepared for detailed budget papers next week that will show how much emergency borrowing is needed.
Carolyne Culver (Green, Ridgeway) said: “I have actually sat and cried about this. “It could have such a negative impact on West Berkshire. “There is no guarantee we get any more emergency funding. “The Government has shafted us on this.”
Final, binding settlement figures for 2026/27 are expected by early February 2026. This is the first multi-year settlement in a decade, setting allocations for 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29, each subject to future consultations.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
