The Resources Directorate develop and deliver clear financial and people strategies, supporting delivery of cross-council improvement and innovation. They facilitate delivery of the Council Plan objectives. This enables other service areas to deliver their priorities effectively and efficiently.
They do this by:
Key plans and strategies support the operational and strategic direction of the directorate. These include:
The Resources Directorate offers a range of internal support functions that help the smooth running of the council and facilitates change and improvement activities.
They also have an external customer focus on local tax collection and recovery of other sums due for council services and payments to suppliers.
Through leading the council’s engagement with the Bracknell Forest Cambium Partnership, it also helps secure more affordable homes and make Bracknell a thriving town centre.
The workforce change programme has made good progress in its first year, reducing the level of agency workers employed across the organisation through a range of initiatives to attract more permanent staff. It will be important to build on this and extend the focus to other parts of the organisation during 2025 to 2026, promoting Bracknell Forest as a first choice for candidates in a competitive labour market.
There has been some success in recruiting qualified staff to vacant posts in some parts of the directorate, though some key roles in accountancy and procurement remain hard to fill. This presents a risk to service delivery, particularly to fulfil the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023 and to support medium-term financial planning. In this regard, maintaining good working relationships with colleagues in neighbouring authorities will be particularly important to make sure a Berkshire voice is heard in discussions with the Government on the introduction of a new local government funding system from 2026 to 2027.
Financial pressures on the council continue to grow each year. While Bracknell Forest is not at risk of a financial breakdown in the foreseeable future, the need for tight financial controls has never been greater. An increased focus on driving and tracking delivery of savings through the Business Change Programme will be key to ensuring a sustainable financial future.
The adoption of the Bracknell Forest Local Plan and masterplans for the Southern Gateway site, including the former High Street car park, provides a clear future focus for the work of the Bracknell Forest Cambium Partnership. With signs that inflationary pressures are declining and a hope that interest rates will fall during the year, market conditions look set to be more positive than they have been for some time.
This information is correct as of January 2025.
The Executive Director for Resources is Stuart McKellar. The directorate provides the following services:
Led by Arthur Parker - Assistant Director: Chief Accountant
Led by Kellie Williams - Assistant Director: Corporate Improvement and Innovation
Led by Sally Hendrick - Head of Audit and Risk Management
Led by Veryan Lyons - Corporate Relationship Manager
Led by Calvin Orr - Assistant Director: Finance and Business Services
Led by Paul Young - Assistant Director: HR, OD and Payroll
Led by Alistair Little - Head of Procurement
We publish our key results and indicators to show our progress with the Council Plan.
Annual actions set out specific activity to be carried out in the next year.
The Resources Directorate has a gross expenditure cash budget of £9.310 million with -£1.410 million of income, making a planned net spend of £7.900 million.
The gross budget includes £6.339 million for staffing.
The 2025 to 2026 budgets include savings of £0.108 million.
The key themes adopted in making the savings were:
The 2025 to 2026 capital programme does not include any schemes for the Resources Directorate.
The budget includes pressures of £0.920 million
These pressures can be put into the following broad categories:
The Resources Directorate have identified the followings budgets that can pose a risk to the council's overall position:
| Service area | Budget (£000) | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Audit | 27 | Due to recruitment difficulties the council may need to commit to purchasing additional audit days from external providers. |
