Money woes at Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) are 'never going to go away' without government action, according to the leader of the council.

This comes after the authority reported a £1.25m overspend for the last financial year.

Key members of the Labour-led council reacted to the overspend at a recent executive meeting on Tuesday, July 16.

Stuart McKellar, the executive director for resources, said the overspend was due to ‘a combination of inflationary pressures, demand pressures and reduced income’, resulting in BFC facing ‘an unprecedented level of pressure’ on its budget.

Like many authorities, BFC ‘took a lot of action during the course of the year to bring the spend much closer to the budget’.

Last year, an initial prediction of overspend was at £4m.

Cllr Temperton, leader of Bracknell Forest Council, said: “It really reflects the pressures that this council, like every other council, is having to take.”

She thanked council officers for making ‘very, very difficult’ decisions.

The overspend was mostly due to pressures on adult and children’s social services. Cllr Temperton said: “I think these are never going to go away without a government intervention, so I just hope we can get that as soon as possible.”

Cllr Neil added that BFC has a ‘solid reputation for robust and pertinent financial management’, highlighting the reduction of overspend from first warnings of £4m.

She said: “The change in central government provides us with an opportunity to put across our case for proper and fair funding for local government.”