Independent report criticises West Berkshire council
The report was commissioned as the council is obliged to have external reviewers take a look at the books, because it is in receipt of around £16m of emergency funding, or exceptional financial support, from the Government
An independent report commissioned by West Berkshire Council into its own financial problems has come back with some damning insights into how the local authority is run.
In a heated exchange at last night’s (Thursday) executive meeting, the Conservative opposition leader called for a mass stand down of the council’s Liberal Democrat executive panel.
In an all round grim night for council finance, the chamber also heard that government cash in the funding review will drop from around £27m to £16m, putting further pressure on the cash-strapped authority.
The report, by CIPFA, says roles and responsibilities between politicians and officers are blurred, which contributes to a lack of focus and undermines accountability.
And it says the council’s own spending programme is ‘unaffordable’.
“West Berkshire Council is in a perilous position and has not clear financial plan to resolve the issue,” said Ross Mackinnon, Conservative group leader.
“A resident reading this report, which is the most damning of a council from an independent body I have ever seen, will want to know if this administration is just going to pay lip service to the report or act on their findings.”
“Members are getting too involved in operational issues; officers are reluctant to challenge the financial merits of key decisions,” it says.
Pushing the point home – in what council leader Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) described as a Rumpole of the Bailey style – Mr Mackinnon went on to say: “The response to this report is a disgrace. There are damning criticisms here.
“These are not political people.
“These CIPFA are public finance experts.
“The finances of West Berkshire Council are out of control and they are getting worse. and you are giving no indication you are grasping the nettle and doing something about it.
“If I’d have been leading an executive that recieved this paper I would have resigned en masse.”
Mr Brooks got a bit hot under the collar with that, accusing Mr Mackinnon – who was attending on a Zoom link – of running reserves right down when he was in charge of finances under the previous Tory administation, saying he was the architect of the council’s current financial position.
The report hightlights a key example in the development of the Grazeley solar farm.
This is a council-funded scheme, put forward as a £10m project by the previous Conservative administration, with costs now more or less doubled before any work has been done.
The report says the cash flow modelling is overly optimistic and the risks of a short-term adverse impact on the revenue account have not been adequately scrutinised.
“Similarly, the council was unable to provide the evidence to demonstrate that the disposal of commercial investments adequatetly weighed up the costs and benefits to the revenue account.
“The figures we saw on anticipated rates of return were inaccurate.”
There is, according to the report, insufficient oversight of existing transformational change or other savings initiatives, with already considerable slippage on some key projects and a lack of a forward pipeline.
Existing systems, processes and structures undermine the capacity of the finance team to provide timely updates and scrutiny of position.
A re-sizing project began in July 2025 to upskill and build capacity within the finance team, but the report says until these initiatives are fully implemented, members and senior officers will find it difficult to monitor progress effectively or take timely corrective action.
It goes on to say existing savings plans are largely short term and do not address the underlying structural issues.
“Whilst there is a recognition of the need for efficiency savings, there is insufficient consideration of cash savings by stopping activities or by introducing more fees and charges,” it says.
Transformation activities are “siloed and lack sufficient co-ordination or oversight” it says, adding there is sizable slippage of the current programme and insufficient activities to identify future opportunities.
And it says the capital programme is too large, lacks focus and is not affordable.
The council’s finance portfiolio holder Iain Cottingham (Lib Dem, Thatcham Centre) laid out how the council is responding to the report and the increasing financial crisis it faces.
A financial improvement group, featuring external expertise, has been set up, and all spends now go through a panel and he welcomed the CIPFA report as “good having indpendent eyes over things”.
“There is a whole list of actions which will go in front of the financial improvement group as a result of this report,” he said.