Bracknell Forest Council has defended its budget issues amid the potential it could overspend by millions this financial year.

The latest prediction says that the authority could overspend by £2.7 million this year – a reduction from the initial figure in £3.5 million warned in August.

Council leaders have said that the authority is taking ‘positive and proactive action’ to continue to bring the amount down.

The overspend could be anywhere within the region of £300,000 to £2.7 million which the council says is ‘less stark than the situation most other local authorities are facing’.

It comes as Bracknell Forest Council overspent by £1.25 million between April 2023 and March 2024.

Rising demand and costs of special educational needs and adult social care are the main drivers of the money issues, according to an executive report.

The squeeze on the budget is also due to inflation and price increases, loss of business rates and general underfunding from central government.

Published ahead of a meeting of the cabinet, council leaders will discuss the budget circumstances on Tuesday, October 15.

The report says that the council has already taken action over the summer to start to reduce the overspend – but much more will be needed into the future.

Measures to bring spending down include not spending money on anything other than essential services, only recruiting to critical vacant job roles and reviewing fees and charges.

Councillor Kathryn Neil, cabinet member for finance and corporate improvement said: “Local government is facing a serious financial challenge at the moment and Bracknell Forest is not unique in experiencing difficulty balancing its budget.

“We’re continuing to face rising costs, extra demand for essential and critical services like social care and special educational needs and disabilities, a loss of business rate revenue and all this is against a backdrop of years of national underfunding.

“While balancing our budget will be challenging, we are continuing to take positive and proactive action to bring the predicted overspend down – which has already reduced the predicted pressure.”

The cabinet member added that Bracknell Forest Council is in a ‘much more comfortable position’ than other neighbouring authorities.

“I want to reassure residents that we are in no danger of bankruptcy,”, she said, “our focus is to respond to this challenge and ensure we continue to provide cost effective services for all our residents.”