Balancing Wokingham Borough Council's books is going to be a challenge next year, the man in charge of the authority's cash has warned.

The council has already said it has to find more than £15 million in savings or extra income in its coming budget.

But its chief finance officer warned that pressures on the council’s spending have become “more severe” – making setting a balanced budget “much harder".

Graham Ebers said: “We face greater challenges and therefore the ability to achieve the presented budget becomes that much harder.”

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Mr Ebers was speaking as councillors looked at early proposals to find savings or new income in the council’s budget for the next financial year, which runs April 2024 to April 2025.

He warned that the council is legally required to set a balanced budget. This means its planned income and spending have to cancel each other out to £0. If the council overspends, it has to make this up by dipping into a pot of reserve funding,

But Mr Ebers said that the biggest pressures on the council’s budget – in particular the amount it needs to spend on adults’ and children's services – were getting worse.

Mr Ebers said: “We need to hold very firmly in our minds we have to set a balanced budget.”

“The pressures particularly in our statutory services – adult social care and children’s services – are not moving away from us.

“If anything we are finding they are more present, they are more challenging as we face those increasing demands.

“The position, the pressures have got more severe.”