The council’s budget for 2026 to 2027 has been agreed with a focus on protecting vital services for residents.
More than £136 million is budgeted for day-to-day costs in 2026 to 2027 (revenue budget) with around £110 million earmarked for people services like:
- social care
- housing
- special educational needs and disabilities
- community safety
Meanwhile, councillors also agreed to invest more than £12 million through the capital budget on things like roads, play areas and leisure facilities, including:
- £6.8 million to maintain and improve highways (including roads, pavements, drainage, bridges and cycle lanes), a record level of investment
- £95,000 in play area upgrades
- £650,000 in local leisure facilities, including the running track at Bracknell Leisure Centre and essential maintenance at Coral Reef Waterworld and Downshire Golf Course
- £50,000 investment in Bracknell Day Services to create extra space and support for adults with learning disabilities
With a predicted funding gap of £10.1 million in 2026 to 2027 and the lowest spending power increase of any unitary authority over the next 3 years, the council has taken extra care in planning its budget to make sure essential services are protected.
The squeeze on the council’s budget has been caused by recent changes to government funding (Fairer Funding Review 2.0), which will see grant support to Bracknell Forest fall by £18 million. It’s also been caused by many years of central government underfunding. Bracknell Forest is being expected to manage its finances for the next 3 years with no additional funding.
Over that period, rising inflation and the extra demand for essential services, like social care and home to school transport, will continue to put pressure on the council’s finances.
Savings of more than £3 million have been made in 2026 to 2027 including reducing staffing, reviewing contracts and stopping some non-essential services. More than £5 million of reserves (savings) will also be used.
While finances are tight, and the council’s government financial settlement was one of the lowest in the country, the budget can be balanced with no need for financial help from the government.
It does, however, mean that council tax will rise by the Government’s expected 4.99% from April to balance the budget. To support the lowest income households locally, a further £50 discount from council tax bills will be applied to all working age and pensioner households receiving council tax support.
Cllr Paul Bidwell, cabinet member for finance, economic development and regeneration, said:
“The council’s budget for 2026 to 2027 reflects what people have been telling us – we must protect essential and vital services like social care and road maintenance and reduce non-essential services.
“We’re making more than £3 million in savings this year by reducing staffing, reviewing contracts and stopping non-essential services. We’ve also committed more than £5 million from the council’s savings. Sadly, as we have been given the lowest financial settlement of any unitary authority in the country from government, it means we have no choice but to raise council tax by 4.99% from April to help plug the funding gap.
“We know that nobody wants to pay more council tax, but given rising costs, growing demand for council services and our low funding settlement, there is no alternative. We will, however, make sure that our lowest income households are able to access increased council tax support in 2026 to 2027.
“We will also invest in our communities, protect vital services and make improvements through our capital budget so the borough remains one of the best places in the country to be born, grow up and grow old.”
More information
The 2026 to 2027 budget was approved at full Council on Wednesday 25 February.
The council’s budget is split into 2 parts:
- revenue budget
- capital budget
The revenue budget pays for day-to-day things like social care, bin collections and street lighting. The capital budget pays for things like new buildings and roads or maintaining existing ones.
In 2026 to 2027 we are due to spend:
- £136.5 million in the revenue budget
- £12.3 million in the capital budget
Feedback from the budget consultation in December and January was used to shape the final budget package. Comments were broadly supportive of the original plans, but some changes were made following public comments, including removing the £40,000 planned spend on a residents’ survey. The full set of responses can be found online.
The budget identifies £3.3 million in savings, including:
- saving £248,000 by stopping the 299, 598 and 151/151A bus services - these services cost a lot to run and are poorly used in terms of the number of passengers (some single trips cost the council more than £16 each)
- saving £380,000 by rescheduling the kerbside glass collection scheme so it starts in March 2027 instead of autumn 2026
- looking to fund climate change projects through other ways like grants and commercial investment - this will save around £50,000 in 2026 to 2027
- saving £275,000 by reviewing the Better Care Fund Grant with the NHS to prioritise intermediate care and reablement services
There are other smaller savings planned like stopping professional subscriptions, revising contracts, and reducing budgets for cleaning.
There are also savings identified through staff restructures and streamlining. Most of the savings will come through removing vacant posts when staff leave or retire rather than through redundancies.
