West Berkshire Council says it will need an extra £160m from the Government over the next four years to keep its head above water.
It will also be requesting an extra £4m on top of the £16m of emergency funding it already has, plus another £30m for next year’s budget to balance the books.
The council’s budget papers published on Wednesday paint a grim picture. The 2026/27 revenue budget is £210.9m, while available funding is £177.9m — a gap of £33.02m.
Plans to build a council-owned solar farm at Grazeley have been pulled from next year’s spending after costs doubled from £10m to £20m. The council says it won’t put the project back on the books until a revised business plan is approved.
A new Finance Improvement Group, with external specialists, has been approved to monitor the development of savings totalling £15m over the next four years.
West Berkshire mostly funds itself from council tax, so more homes mean more cash. It has not asked for dispensation to increase council tax beyond the permitted maximum of 2.99 per cent plus a 2 per cent precept for adult social care.
Over the life of the settlement, government funding (including retained business rates) reduces by £14.1m compared with the 2024/25 baseline.
The council is forecasting an in‑year (2025/26) overspend of £8.5m — rising to £11.5m when accounting for £3m of emergency finance support (EFS) use. Across its medium‑term financial strategy, expenditure is forecast to be considerably higher than allocated funding, prompting the request for more EFS to top up the £16m this year.
As elsewhere, West Berkshire faces significant cost pressures from adult social care and special needs provision, plus employment and cost‑of‑living increases. Last year 30 councils received EFS, a number expected to rise next year; three of the six Berkshire unitary councils are also in receipt of EFS.
The council is doing a deep dive into its own assets to ‘maximise’ their use. A public consultation on the budget plans drew 147 responses.
All budget proposals, including the bid for further EFS, go before the council’s executive next Thursday.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
