“Hard decisions” over spending are on the way, Bracknell Forest Council leader Mary Temperton has warned.

But she insists she is “not going to run” from facing up to residents – as opposition politicians call on the council to do more to involve local people.

Council bosses have already revealed that they could end up spending more than £4 million extra than that which had been budgeted for this year.

Extra pressures on social services and housing, coupled with a drop in income have led to “the biggest potential overspend that this council has faced,” one of its senior executives said last month.

Now councillor Temperton says that next year’s budget – which must be set by March next year – is also “going to be a hard one.”

But she says she wants to make sure she speaks to residents “face to face” to justify whatever spending decisions the council will make.

She said: “There are going to be some hard decisions, and there’s no way I’m going to run from that. We have to explain why these choices have to be made and the only way we can do that is face to face.”

READ MORE: Bracknell Forest Council faces £4 million budget overspend

Councillor Temperton’s comments come as Liberal Democrat members say Bracknell Forest Council has “some way to go” in making sure that residents are “involved in important policy decisions.”

Mary Temperton promised to “take the council to the residents” after being elected its first Labour leader since 1997 earlier this year.

But Liberal Democrats want to make the ruling Labour group produce a report on what it has done to “give residents a stronger, genuine voice in the council’s business”.

Liberal Democrat councillor Patrick Smith said: “We’re very keen as the Lib Dem group that we want residents to feel empowered and they have a genuine choice in decisions being made.

“You often hear from residents ‘I never hear from our councillors’. We’re all here working hard for our residents but there are better ways to communicate that.”

He said he would like to see “performance metrics” to measure how the council involves residents, such as how many opportunities they have to speak in meetings, and how many respond to council consultations.

Councillor Temperton said Labour had already taken steps to make sure councillors and officers meet more residents. She pointed to a cost of living information event in Princess Square earlier this year – where people could speak to charities and food banks about the support they could get.

But she said she would back councillor Smith’s call in a vote at a full council meeting on Wednesday, September 13.