Reading’s Liberal Democrat councillors have voted against the Council’s 2026/27 budget, citing concerns over depleted reserves and last-minute financial planning that leaves future years unbalanced.

Speaking at last night’s Full Council meeting, the three Lib Dem councillors challenged the Labour administration over a budget that was only balanced two weeks earlier through an emergency £3.6 million draw from the Financial Resilience Reserve, leaving the Financial Resilience Reserve set to fall to just £269,000 by 2027/28.

Reserves running on empty

Councillor Anne Thompson highlighted the scale of the Council’s financial pressures: “To balance the budget, we will draw down £7.302 million from reserves — almost double the size of the drawdown a year ago. Our reserves are shrinking. The General Fund Revenue Reserve has fallen from £49.8 million to a forecast of £30.2 million in just one year, a 39% decline. You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to know that this can’t go on much longer.”

Cllr Thompson criticised the government’s funding settlement, noting that Reading receives nothing from the £865 million Recovery Grant despite having above-average deprivation in income, education, crime and barriers to housing. “Had the Recovery Grant been distributed through the fair funding formula as originally intended, Reading would have received an additional £2.05 million. That is a deliberate political choice by the Labour government in Westminster, and it is not fair.”

She added: “Our Adult Social Care caseload has grown by 311 people in nine months. Our looked after children numbers are rising when numbers are falling nationally. Yet we have three Labour MPs. Where were their voices for Reading when these decisions were being made?”

Last-minute budget raises concerns

Councillor James Moore focused on the administration’s handling of the budget: “This budget was not balanced in December. It had a £4.4 million gap as recently as ten weeks ago. It was only finally closed two weeks before this meeting by drawing an additional £3.6 million from reserves at the last minute. That is not long-term planning. That is firefighting.”

Cllr Moore pointed to a pattern of financial management problems: “Year after year of overspending — £9.3 million last year, £4 million forecast this year. Year after year of underdelivering on savings. The savings programme has delivered 73% of what was planned last year, and KPMG’s own forward look suggests only 66% will be delivered this year.”

He highlighted what he described as misplaced priorities: “We have requested a hearing loop system for Tilehurst Community Centre — a permanent accessibility improvement that would benefit the one in six people in the UK who suffer from hearing impairment. We’ve been told there are cost pressures that prevent it. Yet there were no cost pressures when it came to funding the Mayor’s £920 flight to watch football in Germany last year.”

Council Tax rises continue

The budget approved by the Labour-controlled council includes a 4.99% Council Tax increase — the maximum permissible without a referendum — for the third consecutive year. For a typical Band C household, the Reading element of Council Tax will rise by around £94 per year.

Cllr Thompson noted that public support for the increases is weakening: “The budget engagement showed 50.5% of respondents now oppose the Council Tax increase — a significant shift from last year when 60% supported it.”

Future years unbalanced

Despite the reserve draw, the Medium Term Financial Strategy shows budget gaps of £1.996 million in 2027/28 and £207,000 in 2028/29 still to be found.

All three Liberal Democrat councillors voted against the budget.

At a time when police stations and front desks are disappearing, people want visible, trusted officers and a clear local point of contact. Labour already promised the public 13,000 more police officers, but instead, officer numbers have fallen – by June 2025, we had 4,000 fewer frontline officers than the year before. Crimes like shoplifting, bike theft, tool theft and more are going unchecked, leaving ordinary people to pay the price.

Liberal Democrats Councillor for Tilehurst, Meri O’Connell, said:

“Promises by press release are all well and good, but the Government must deliver. The former Conservative Government destroyed neighbourhood policing and left our communities to pay the price.

“Labour already promised the public 13,000 more police officers, but instead officer numbers have fallen – by June last year, we had 4,000 fewer frontline officers than the year before.

“It’s the public that pays the price – in the Thames Valley, rates of shoplifting have gone up 14%.

“If the Government is serious about restoring neighbourhood policing, it needs to step up, get this right, and get more officers back onto our streets.”

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Reform UK has gained 21 councillors in the latest wave of defections announced this morning, reaching a total of 963.

The majority of the newcomers (15) are former Conservatives and among then are a Reading councillor.

Clarence Mitchell at Reading Borough Council has become the first Reform councillor at Reading. Cllr Mitchell is a former leader of Conservative group at Reading.

He has lived in Reading for the past five years, first becoming a councillor for the now abolished Peppard ward in 2021, before being re-elected for the new Emmer Green ward as a Conservative at the all-out elections 2022.

Commenting following his defection, Cllr Clarence Mitchell said: “I am delighted to be joining Reform UK today as a councillor to restore patriotism and purpose back into Reading.“

Reacting to the news, cllr Dave McElroy (Green, Redlands), his party’s candidate during the 2024 general election, said: “The Greens are already the main opposition in Reading, so are clearly the best choice for anyone looking to defeat Reform and/or punish Labour for their low-fat Farage impression.

“We don’t need another party punching down on migrants and minorities while accepting crazy donations from foreign companies and billionaires.

“We’re focused on leaving Reading (let alone the planet) a better place for our kids. The town has been more or less under Labour control since the 80s. The best way to defeat Reform is to get rid of those responsible for the state of our borough.

“Green politics is built on hope, rather than fear; there is a real alternative to Reform and Labour in Reading, you can support the Green Party!

“So If you care about fair pay for a hard day’s work, whether you and your kids are able to own your own homes – that sort of thing – then you’ve got to hit them where it hurts by joining the Greens (https://join.greenparty.org.uk/).“