Council warns of fees hike if funding plans go ahead

Wokingham Council has said it will face tough spending choices if the government's plans do not change

A council could hike parking charges and increase fees for garden and bulky waste collections if the government presses on with plans to redistribute funding to areas with greater need.

Wokingham Borough Council worries it could need to save about £47m over three years due to a reduced government grant.

The council's leader Stephen Conway said, given about 70% of its spending goes on supporting people and social care, it was having to look at savings and the "prioritisation of our limited resources".

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said it did not recognise the council's figure.

The council's garden waste collections, already priced at £90 a year for each bin, could increase by 10% every year for the next three years in an effort to raise £545,000.

Its bulky waste collection service currently charges £69 to collect up to five items but it proposes charging £72 to collect three bulky items and three small waste electrical items to raise between £12,000 and £15,000 a year.

The council could also seek to renegotiate the costs of about £30,000 it incurs for security, toilets and management of the tow path at the Henley Royal Regatta.

Other money-making plans include generating income from adverts on roundabouts, roadsides, dog poo bins and rubbish lorries.

But it has mooted removing some litter bins from around the borough to save on collection costs after it said research showed it has more of them than other authorities of a similar size.

"The vast majority of our spending rightly goes on supporting people," Conway said.

"We are committed to helping those people who need us most, such as people who have learning difficulties, physical disabilities, health issues and other needs that only we can provide support for.

"With that necessary focus on people, we are unfortunately having to look to save money elsewhere; it is about prioritisation of our limited resources."

The MHCLG spokesperson said: "For too long families have faced ever-increasing bills while councils don't get the support they need from government.

"That's why we're fixing the outdated funding system we inherited so that funding finally matches need."