Bracknell

Bracknell Forest ratepayers have been warned they face council tax hikes and service cuts to plug a £4.8 million council funding gap.

And the Bracknell council's leader has also admitted they will be slashing council jobs.

Bracknell Council bosses are refusing to say just where the axe will fall - even though they already know.

The warning about funding came from Bracknell borough treasurer Chris Herbert during a presentation to the council's overview and scrutiny committee.

He said: "This will be tough. I believe we can get there but there will be an impact on the services the council will be able to deliver next year."

In July the Bracknell council predicted there would be £2 million of reductions based on current spending. This consists of:

* A £600,000 increase in pensions;

* A £700,000 subsidy to government for council housing;

* A £500,000 planned decrease in reserve balance or savings.

The following problems have arisen since then:

* A £500,000 increase in the council's energy bill;

* A £1.4 million increase in the adult services bill;

* A £1.4 million increase in the children in care/special needs bill.

After the meeting Bracknell council leader Paul Bettison said he knew the services facing cuts but could not reveal which ones.

He said the children in care and special needs bill was something the council had little control over because it was impossible to predict how many children needed help each year.

Bracknell Cllr Bettison said the annual bill to care for one child could be as much as £250,000.

He said: "Some of these things are genuinely out of our control. I have been saying for some time that this is going to be a very hard budget."

He said the Bracknell council was having to make some very difficult decisions, which would not be popular with everyone.

He added: "I can understand that some people will feel a little less magnanimous than others, and it is very hard, but we have a statutory duty to these people and could-n't walk away even if we wanted to.

"I'm sorry the answer is that it has to be paid for by society somehow. If you can't persuade central government to do it, then you have to do it locally."

Opposition Labour group deputy leader Bracknell Cllr Mike Beadsley said it was difficult to comment on the budget until papers were published by the Bracknell council on Tuesday (December 13).

ic Berkshire ~ Bracknell ~ Dec 8 2005