The people in charge of West Berkshire Council will discuss plans for a council tax increase, a £139 million budget for council services and a £122.9 million investment programme this week.

All three are then expected to be approved when the council meets on Tuesday, March 2.

If you want to find out more, but don't have the time (or energy) to go through all the complex council reports, charts and tables, then here are the five things you need to know.

Council tax is going up

West Berkshire Council is planning to increase council tax by 1.99 per cent, which means the average Band D household will see their bill rise to £1,596.40 in 2020/21.

The increase, which is due to be approved on March 2, will raise an extra £2 million for the Conservative-run council.

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It could increase council tax by a further 3 per cent, by increasing the adult social care precept to help cover the cost of caring for elderly and vulnerable adults in West Berkshire.

The council has decided that 3 per cent increase would be unnecessary in 2021/22 because the cost of providing adult social care has fallen, due to a high number of Covid-related deaths at council-run care homes.

There's a £139 million budget for council services 

The council is expected to set a budget of £139 million for 2021/22 when it meets on March 2.

That is the amount of money that will be spent on all council-run services.

Over half that money (£76.66 million) will be spent on ‘People Directorate’ services, which include adult social care, public health and children and family services.

The council will end this year with £3.4 million to spare 

All councils in the UK are legally required to balance the books each year, which means they cannot run a deficit.

When demand for expensive council services continues to increase and the government has been slashing council funding for over 10 years, that can be extremely difficult.

Many limp through each financial year and are forced to cut funding for services, make redundancies and dip into emergency savings – known as reserves – to avoid running a deficit.

However, West Berkshire Council is expecting to finish 2020/21 with £3.4 million to spare and that money will be transferred to the reserves.

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Council bosses say that is because the cost of caring for vulnerable adults, which makes up around a third of the total budget, has dropped due to a high number of deaths at council-run care homes during the pandemic.

The council has also been given £9.5 million of emergency support from the government during the pandemic, which covers around 75 per cent of the income it has lost.

The council needs to save £3.7 million in 2021/22

The cost of providing services continues to rise and that means 2021/22 will bring a new set of challenges for West Berkshire Council, which has not received a revenue support grant from the government since 2017/18.

The council plans to boost the budget by taking £2.2 million from its reserves and increasing council tax to raise an extra £2 million.

The government is also handing the council £9.2 million for adult social care, another £3.2 million of Covid-19 support and a £1.15 million new homes bonus, which aims to incentivise housebuilding.

Despite that extra cash, West Berkshire Council will still be left with a £3.7 million funding gap.

To close that gap, council leaders have outlined various plans to reduce the cost of the services, such as closing the run-down Walnut Close Care Home and moving residents and staff to other council care homes.

Council bosses say most of the changes will make the management of key council services more cost-effective but they won’t affect the quality of those services.

The council is also planning to make three employees redundant – but those plans are not part of this revenue budget.

A £122.9 million investment programme is about to be approved

The revenue budget funds council-run services, while the capital budget funds investments in a range of projects that aim to enhance the local area.

The council has prepared a £122.9 million investment budget for the next three years.

It is looking to invest £12.5 million in environmental projects and around £10 million of that is due to be spent on a setting up a 75-acre solar farm near Grazeley.

Almost £40 million will be spent on building and maintaining local infrastructure. That includes £11.9 million for roads.

Another £40 million will be invested in projects run by the People Directorate and most of that money will be used to maintain and upgrade schools in West Berkshire.

There is also £14.8 million for “feasibility investigations” into a range of projects, including redeveloping Newbury Lido, refurbishing Kennet Leisure Centre and repairing West Berkshire Museum.

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To fund this ambitious investment programme, the council will also use £34 million of government grants and £19.4 million it has collected from developers through Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy charges.

It is also planning to borrow £64.4 million.

According to a report, the council’s total outstanding debt stands at £221,899,000.

The £100 million property plan has been halted

The council has borrowed £63 million from the government’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) and used that low-interest loan to buy buildings such as offices and shops.

It bought buildings across the country, including an £8 million office block in Newbury Business Park, a £2.9 million bank in Eastbourne and a £7 million Sainsbury’s store in a market town in North Yorkshire.

Those properties are rented out and the council aims to make a profit of around £1.26 million (two per cent) each year, so it can reinvest that money in front-line services.

The council had planned to borrow £100 million in total, but in November 2020 the government said councils must stop borrowing from the PWLB to invest in property purely for profit.

Cllr Ross Mackinnon, executive member for finance, said: “We will not be looking to make any further purchases of commercial property.

“We will certainly be maintaining the current property portfolio to generate income, but further purchases are off the table.”