GOVERNMENT chiefs have handed the council a £3.4million boost to cover extra costs created by the coronavirus crisis — but the authority’s finance boss says this cash is unlikely to make up all their spending.

The money comes after Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) was awarded an initial £2.4million in March in a move local government secretary of state Robert Jenrick said would help councils “continue their extraordinary efforts.”

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Asked by the News whether this money will be enough to cover the council’s spending, councillor Peter Heydon said: “No, is the short answer.”

The councillor, who is BFC’s executive member for finance, added: “Our best estimates are the way we are going, this [money from the government] will cover about half of our additional costs.

“A lot of our social care costs have gone up but the other thing that is hitting us very, very heavily is our loss of revenue.

“For example, the car parks bring in a significant amount of revenue every month. That’s just stopped.”

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BFC has received £5.8million altogether now and received more in the second round of funding as pressures for unitary authorities increase.

This money is not ringfenced and BFC will be free to spend the money on what it deems most appropriate.

Cllr Heydon added: “We were encouraged with the first tranche to spend this on adult social care.

“The second tranche was given far more freely without any expectation.

“It was to manage costs escalated through covid-19.”

BFC had an estimated £6.5million in financial reserves at March 31, 2019, money which is typically used in emergency situations.

Cllr Heydon said the council has not had to use this cash yet, however.

He continued: “We have to re-calculate our budget all the time but we won’t have had to use our reserves at the moment because at the start of the [financial] year we are quite cash-rich.

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“As you go towards the end of the fiscal year that’s when cash starts to get depleted because you have a full year’s expenditure against it.

“That’s when if we need to use reserves, they will start to be used.”