West Berkshire Council has outlined its spending plans for the 2026/27 financial year.
Highlights include a new 3G pitch at the Faraday Road football ground in Newbury and three new pop-up libraries, taking the total to six across the district.
From April the council will spend £210.9m delivering services and a further £46m on infrastructure such as buildings, roads and major equipment.
- £84m on adult social care and £50m on children’s services.
- £13m for roads, including a £1.6m council top-up to national maintenance funding.
- £20m for bin collections, recycling and waste management.
- School projects include extra cash for Falkland Primary to build new classrooms, plus work at Theale Primary and Brookfields School.
- A new play park at Shaw House is planned.
The council has asked the Government for an Exceptional Financial Support borrowing facility of up to £30m for 2026/27 to support services.
Speaking about the budget Iain Cottingham (Lib Dem, Thatcham Central), executive member for finance, said: “This is a budget which will deliver for local residents while navigating, as best as we can, the constant reductions in central Government funding.
“We have a strong track record of delivery and we will continue to spend your money on the services which are most important to us all.
“Nationally our strong ratings in terms of highways, social care and recycling put us among the top performing councils in the country – we will continue to provide hundreds of services that residents rely on and will protect them as far as possible.
“The challenges we face around funding are well understood.
“We are continually working hard to manage our budgets, to borrow responsibly and to deliver efficient services whilst protecting and improving them as far as possible.”
The budget is set to be formally agreed at a meeting of full council on Thursday, February 26.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
