Reading’s budget delivers for residents

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 30year 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