By Cllr Jason Brock
It’s the time of year when councils up and down the country announce their budgets.
It’s the culmination of many hours of discussions behind closed doors about where limited funds are best directed in the year ahead.
With inflation still running at a 30-year high, councils everywhere are now facing additional pressures, just as residents are with their household budgets.
In Reading, inflation will cost the Council an estimated £8.7 million extra this year. We have also budgeted for an extra £4.3 million to pay for vital the care elderly and vulnerable residents rely on.
It is against this backdrop, then, that next week we will debate Labour’s new Council budget.
It’s a budget that continues to deliver for residents, despite the enormous challenges.
While other councils – including one or two very close to home – struggle with unpalatable cuts, years of sound financial planning come to fruition in Reading this year with the opening of major modern new facilities, and we are also protecting frontline services.
Hot on the heels of the opening of the modern new Palmer Park Leisure Centre and pool, a second new flagship pool and leisure centre for Reading, this time at Rivermead, is due to open this year. Both Reading’s first new railway station for 117 years at Green Park and the modernisation of Reading West Station are now only weeks away from completion.
Other major investments which make up our proposed new three-year budget include a continuation of Reading’s largest ever road repair programme and the expansion of the town’s biggest Council house building programme for a generation.
New segregated cycle lanes, improvements for local bus services, new playgrounds and major investments in carbon-cutting technologies are all included.
Maybe smaller in size, but just as important, are the proposed investments in our local communities. And this Labour Council is delivering on residents’ priorities, whether that’s our ongoing refresh of playgrounds across town, further funding for our new pilot projects to tackle economic inequalities in the town, or the extension of our successful graffiti-cleaning project.
It also means specific local investments, like improvement works at the ever-popular Christchurch Paddling Pool to improve reliability and extend its lifespan, or a major retrofitting of Council homes to make them more energy efficient and cheaper to heat for existing tenants, with major improvements to homes coming at Wensley Road, Hexham Road and Granville Road.
We also maintain our financial support for Reading’s incredible voluntary sector, whose role in helping us to reach and support those living on low incomes, as well as tackling widening inequality, becomes all the more essential in these difficult times.
This time of year is also when councils announce their local Council Tax increases, and that naturally grabs attention too.
The Government last week announced it would give special dispensation for 10% Council Tax increases in nearby Slough and in Thurrock, and a 15% increase in Croydon. These are three councils struggling with massive debts, and it has understandably made the headlines.
Maybe the bigger story, though, should be the percentage of local authorities who will almost inevitably have to increase rates up to the referendum limit, which is a 2.99% Council Tax rise and an additional £2% rise in the Adult Social Care precept.
It is what we are proposing in Reading, alongside the vast majority of councils.
Cast your mind back a few months and you will remember the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement (even if four Chancellors in four months mean you don’t necessarily remember which one of them read it out).
When the Government talked about increases in ‘spending power’ for local councils, Council Tax increases are what they were referring to. Fast forward four months, and I expect they hope you’ve forgotten about it.
I wrote at the time that by refusing to acknowledge the importance of public services and by refusing to provide local councils with a realistic funding solution, particularly for essential social care services, the burden for protecting local services would fall on people struggling with their own household budgets.
Being conscious of this – and we know that it is always those on the lowest incomes who are hardest hit by inflation – this year we are proposing to add a £75 hardship payment for those eligible for an already enhanced Council Tax Support Scheme in Reading.
This is three times the Government’s guidance and means eligible residents will have their Council Tax bills reduced by £75 this year (to check for eligibility go to www.reading.gov.uk/council-tax).
Budget presentations can be dry old affairs, full of spreadsheets and numbers. But what sits behind them are the things that make a difference to people’s lives.
Whether through access to modern new transport, leisure, cultural, educational or care facilities, or by supporting those under the biggest strain during the cost of living crisis, I believe our new budget underpins our ethos of ensuring that Reading realises its full potential and that everyone who lives and works in our amazing town can share in the benefits of its success.
Cllr Jason Brock is the leader of Reading Borough Council and ward member for Southcote
