Council faces £18.75m shortfall, report warns

Bracknell Forest Council could lose £18.75m of funding in the next three years, a report has said

A council will have to make "tough decisions" after a report warned of a potential multimillion-pound budget shortfall, its leader has said.

Bracknell Forest Council's cabinet members were were told the authority faced a £18.75m funding gap over the next three years.

The council's financial officers said further funding could also be lost due to the government's Fairer Funding Review 2.0.

The government previously said it was aiming to introduce "a fairer funding system that targets money where it is most needed".

Council leader Mary Temperton said the authority had written to the government to argue the funding review would leave it to "shoulder a large funding gap while struggling to pay for increasingly costly services".

"It is no secret that local government, as a sector, has been seriously underfunded for many years," she said.

"The Fair Funding Review disproportionately cuts money in the years ahead to areas like Bracknell Forest, which are seen as 'well off'.

"Regardless of how well we manage our budget, it is impossible to balance an £18.75 million funding gap without making some difficult and tough decisions in the future."

The cabinet received a presentation on the report into the council's financial situation on September 23, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Launching a consultation into the new funding proposals, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: "Our fiscal inheritance means that there will be tough choices on all sides to get us back on the path to recovery and it will take time."