Bracknell: Schools in line for cash boosts as part of budget plans

The council’s budget proposals — which residents only have one day left to have their say on — list five new bids for school projects worth £275,000.

READ MORE: Here's what's in Bracknell Forest's budget

Schemes drawn up in Bracknell Forest Council’s capital budget include:

• £50,000 to improve school security, with cash earmarked to erect new fencing and a new fire panel at Sandhurst School and to pay for safety at the front desk of The Pines school

• £60,000 for a report looking into whether Sandhurst School and Easthampstead Park School should be redeveloped in the future as ‘neither has had major investment in recent years’ and ‘the standard of their accommodation and facilities is falling behind academy schools’

• £15,000 to refurbish Birch Hill Primary School’s modular building which is used as a resource for special educational needs children

• £120,000 for the extension and refurbishment of Holly Spring School’s modular building

• £30,000 to develop an outside space and an all-weather surface at The Pines school

Residents only have one day left to have their say on these plans as well as the council’s revenue budget plans.

To comment on the proposals, click the link here. https://consult.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/kse/event/35925/form/35925/page/001.2

The deadline to have your say is January 27, 5pm.

Other capital budget proposals include:

• Spending £4.6million to redevelop Bracknell’s Commercial Centre

• Spending £1.27 million on maintaining the council’s properties

• Demolishing public toilets at Napier Road, Crowthorne (£10,000 spend)

• Developing a new social, educational and mental health school in Bracknell Forest (£660,000 spend)

Revenue budget proposals published in December indicated Bracknell Forest Council faced a budget gap of £6.2 million heading into the 2021/2022 financial year.

This position is now likely to have changed thanks to a new local government financial settlement, but nevertheless, the authority earmarked savings including:

• Several staffing changes including restructures, deletion of posts and position replacements

• Saving £250,000 from changing how adults with learning disabilities received independent day support.

• Saving £1.8 million in adult social care over the next three years.

• Saving £1 million in children’s social care over the next two years

• Saving £13,000 by discontinuing the installation of hanging baskets around Bracknell Forest

Final budget proposals will be published and voted on by councillors in February.