Council tax and charges may have to increase next year, while some council properties may have to be sold because there’s “not much left” to cut from services, the leader of Bracknell Forest Council has warned.

Councillor Mary Temperton said she would “fight hard” to avoid scaling back more council services, after two decades of spending cuts, in an interview with Bracknell News.

But she said that rising costs will make setting a balanced budget difficult – so the council will have to look for other ways to raise money.

Councillor Temperton said: “Since Bracknell Forest Council became a council – and it’s 25 years old this year – it’s cut £100 million.

“There’s not much left any more – there’s no low-lying fruit you can just pick off and think, that’s a luxury, we’ll get away with that.”

She added that the council could try to raise money by raising council tax by the maximum amount allowed – 4.99 per cent – as well as charges for some council services.

She also said that the council could look into selling some of its properties – although she added that none of this had yet been decided.

Councillor Temperton said: “Raise the council tax – that’s the big one. But you can only do that to a certain amount, otherwise you have to have a referendum.

“Charges will have to go up according to inflation, or just under inflation, but that hasn’t been decided yet.”

She added: “We do have some assets that we could possibly sell. Certainly not South Hill Park – there are other assets dotted all over the place. But that decision hasn’t taken place either.”

READ MORE: Bracknell Forest Council could sell properties to cope with budget

Councillor Temperton was speaking as Bracknell Forest Council begins the process of setting next year’s budget, which will cover April 2024 to April 2025.

The council’s executive director for resources Stuart McKellar told the ruling group of councillors that Bracknell Forest faced a spending shortfall of £9.6 million over the next three years. But that’s based on the assumption that the council will raise council tax by the maximum every year.

He also said that the council had managed to reduce its expected overspend to two or three million pounds this year – down from a possible £4 million predicted last month.

Councillor Temperton made a plea for the government to give local councils more money.

She said: “Billions need to be reinvested back into local government. We get all the stuff to do – we have to do all the social care, providing the quality of life for people. And yet the money is constantly never enough.

“We’re the ones that are more important because we’re the ones that are actually determining the quality of life for our residents.”