Council says it will be £20m worse off than expected

West Berkshire Council says it expects next year to be its toughest year yet after being given a government funding package worth £20m less than it hoped for.

Its leader, Jeff Brooks, said he was disappointed the government had decided that millions of pounds the council would normally bring in through business rates would be redirected to other less affluent areas of the country instead.

The Liberal Democrat councillor also said the spiralling costs of providing social care for older residents and vulnerable children was putting huge pressure on other services.

The government said the overall level of council funding would go up by £3.9bn next year, assuming all local authorities raised council tax by the maximum allowed.

It also said its local government funding settlement would give councils three years of financial certainty so they could plan ahead rather than firefight year to year.

In an interview with BBC Radio Berkshire, Mr Brooks painted a stark picture of the financial pressures his authority faces.

The council has a total annual budget of £184m but told the radio station that every year that goes by sees more of that money going to help just a small number of vulnerable of adults and children.

He said: "Five years ago the top 25 people who needed care and support cost us £4.9m.

"That's 25 people costing our taxpayers just under £5m. Today the top 25 people cost us nearly £13m. That's unsustainable."

While saying he and his council are committed to helping people in need, he said it was important that people realise that rising costs such as these mean councils are unable to do every single thing residents ask of them.

Like many council leaders in the south of England, Mr Brooks is unhappy about a government plan that means some of the money they raise from business rates will be diverted to local authorities in other less affluent areas of the country, like the midlands and the north east.

"There's a huge amount of redistribution going on," he said.

"We're losing probably £10m of our business rates.

"People don't know this but while we get £100m of our business rates, we only keep £30m of them.

"Now we're being told by the government we'll probably only be able to keep £20m of them."

Government ministers say the shake-up will make England's funding model fairer.

But West Berkshire's Council leader says that is missing the point as, while areas like his are relatively wealthy, people there are living longer and needed more help from the council in the last few years of their lives.