Reading Borough Council (RBC) is planning to enact millions of pounds of cuts over the next three years, with a focus on 'efficiency savings' to balance its budget.

Residents will be hit with a council tax hike of 2.99 per cent at the same time, although this is the lowest increase since 2016 and less than Wokingham Borough Council’s 3.49 per cent increase.

The council needs to make savings of £30.1m over the next three years to balance its budget and plans to do so with a mix of efficiency savings, service reductions, income generation and ‘invest to save’ initiatives.

Most of the total savings – more than £20m – are expected to be delivered through improving efficiency, while the council also expects to rake in more than £6m from income generation including increased fees and charges.

Service reductions total £2.6m, with children’s services bearing most of that brunt.

£13.6m of the total savings will come from children’s services, now run by Brighter Futures for Children, the council’s arms-length children’s company.

This includes £2m of unspecified one-off 'service reductions', which will be balanced by £5.4m in funding for transformation work, from RBC and the Department for Education.

The draft 19/20 budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy to 2021 will be debated at full council on Tuesday, February 26.

The council is planning to raise another £10m in Environment & Neighbourhood services, including £1.8m income from a proposed workplace parking levy – proposed to be introduced from 2020/21 – and increases to parking charges.

Savings will also be made by reducing services such as grass cutting in public parks and through being more efficient.

A further £4m will come from adult social care and health services, which will receive no service reductions, relying on efficiency savings and increased income to deliver savings.

Other savings include cuts to cleaning services, closure of public toilets and a reduction in grass cutting in public parks.

Matt Davis, head of finance, said: "The budget is a balanced and sustainable budget, critically no longer reliant on drawing down earmarked reserves or prior savings.

"Risks and challenges remain but we have put in place a number of measures to manage these."

Jackie Yates, director of resources, said the 19/20 budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy are robust but rely on the delivery of the £30.1m in savings.

The strategy also includes a contingency fund of £11.9m in case of 'slippage in delivery' of savings over the three years.

RBC will have had its central government funding cut by £58m by 2020.

The proposed 2.99 per cent council tax increase would work out as 91p per week for a Band D council tax payer.