Residents across Bracknell Forest will be paying 4.99 percent more council tax next year.
Due to a government funding formula that penalises Bracknell, councillors have had to cut services as well, to balance the council’s budget.
To avoid going into debt, Bracknell Forest council has had to:
save £248,000 by axing the bus services 299, 598 and 151/151A, which are uneconomical to run and are poorly used in terms of the number of passengers (some single trips cost the council more than £16 each).
save £380,000 by delaying new kerbside glass collections to start in March 2027 instead of autumn 2026.
find grants and commercial investment to fund climate change projects- saving £50,000 in 2026 to 2027.
saving £275,000 by reviewing the Better Care Fund Grant with partners in the NHS to prioritise intermediate care and rehabilitation services.
In 2025, Bracknell raised £84,515,000 through council tax, so increasing the tax by 4.99 percent should raise £4,217,000.
Bracknell residents are particularly hit due to a government calculation called the ‘Fairer Funding Formula’.
The new formula gives more money to areas with high deprivation and lower property values.
By contrast, affluent authorities in the south east, like Bracknell, are seen as having a high “revenue-raising capacity” via council tax and have had their central government grants slashed.
At Bracknell Forest’s budget meeting on Wednesday, February 25, even Labour councillors objected to the way their government was assigning money.
Cabinet member for finance, economic development and regeneration Paul Bidwell (Labour, Easthampstead & Wildridings) said: “This falls well short of the level our residents need and deserve.”
Cllr Mc Lean (Con, Whitegrove) said: “The government is taking £18m away from the residents of Bracknell Forest.”
Cllr Gareth Barnard (Con, Warfield) said: “When you talk about a modest council tax rise, 4.99 percent is not modest, it’s what the government expects us to do and it’s above inflation.”
He also partly blamed the local Labour MP.
He said: “I remember election slogans in 2024, when Peter Swallow [MP] doing his rounds of Bracknell, in hustings and things, promised change for Bracknell Forest.
“Well we all know in this council chamber now, what that change looks like.
According to him, “Ineffective lobbying” by the MP had “lead to us receiving absolutely no additional money over the next three years and the worst settlement.”
Cllr Mclean concluded: “The lights will be going off across Bracknell Forest.”
The council leader Mary Temperton responded: “Lights will not go out in Bracknell, because once reported in, they will be fixed.”
The band D council tax for 2026/7 across Bracknell Forest will be:
Bracknell: £1,891.97; Binfield: £1,848.70; Crowthorne: £1,889.66; Sandhurst: £1,866.41; Warfield: £1,844.86; Winkfield: £1,868.37.
