If an AI were to spin West Berkshire Council’s current reality into a fairy tale, it might sound a bit like this.
In the kingdom of West Berkshire, a fire‑breathing beast called Deficit sits atop the treasury. To placate it, the council has had to raise the local tax tribute by 4.99 per cent, including a special gold coin for the elders (the adult social care precept). A shadow looms as the castle faces a “significant reduction” in gold from the central government, and leader Jeff Brooks says the council must make “tough decisions” — including hiking council tax and pleading with ministers for extra help.
The kingdom follows a map called West Berkshire Vision 2036: five priorities aimed at making sure residents can fulfil their potential — providing services to be proud of; creating a fairer place; tackling the climate emergency; building resilience; and empowering thriving communities.
Across the sea, the White Hall in London has been holding back the usual shipments of gold. Jeff Brooks is drafting a warning scroll to ministers that, without more support, essential services could be left exposed.
There’s scepticism about AI’s role in news: Audience studies by the Reuters Institute indicate that people believe AI makes news “less trustworthy” and “less transparent”. UK Election Analysis called 2024 “The AI election that wasn’t – yet”, saying AI’s influence was of “modest influence”. Even Google AI admits it is not inherently “better” than journalism and says “it serves as a powerful, complementary tool for automating tasks like data sorting and transcription, while human oversight remains essential for accuracy, context, and ethics”. AI also acknowledges it struggles with complex, nuanced reporting — so human journalists still matter for investigative and ethical stories.
AI’s read of the council’s own messaging is that media releases often lean into upbeat language while framing financial pressure as the result of central government decisions and rising demand. It summarised the funding settlement as “profoundly disappointing”. It added: “Updates often promote successful outcomes, such as an 18 per cent reduction in black bin waste or new youth-focused scrutiny committees. They frequently invite residents to participate in consultations, framing proposed service cuts as a necessary step to meet the legal obligation of delivering a balanced budget.”
Public and internal sentiment, AI says, tends to be far harsher: common complaints centre on financial instability, poor management and a lack of transparency — with accusations the council is broke, “burning through money”, showing poor financial control and edging towards bankruptcy. Leadership is often described as secretive and lacking accountability.
“In summary,” says AI, “West Berkshire Council’s press releases are functional and communicative regarding, policy, changes, but they lack balanced critique of the administration’s financial performance, and are often interpreted through a political lens.” It flagged examples of hyperbolic language used by the council: “Services we are proud of”; “Making West Berkshire greener, fairer and more prosperous”; “DNA of the council”.
Key takeaway: you’re less likely to be replaced by a bot, and more likely to be replaced by a person who knows how to use a bot better than you do.
Yeah. Definitely more dragons.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
