West Berkshire Council service cuts consultation

Proposals to cut services in West Berkshire are going to consultation as part of a council plan to save £10m.

The authority has published plans to reduce funding to Citizens Advice from £120,000 to £40,000, and to introduce an annual garden waste collection fee of £50 to generate £900,000-a-year.

It added that £17,500 would be saved by not sending planning application notices directly to nearby properties.

The consultation, which began on Monday, will run until 10 January.

West Berkshire Council, which has a budget of £123m for 2018-19, said it needed to save £10m-a-year and the latest £1m of savings identified would help "to deliver a balanced budget".

It said most of the savings would be made by making the council "even more efficient" and a "possible increase in council tax".

Council leader Graham Jones said his authority had prioritised protecting services supporting vulnerable people but it was "inevitable" others would be impacted.

"Every year our communities are asking more from the services we provide but we are receiving less money to provide those services," he added.