Reading Borough Council: local authority assessment

Demographics 

Reading Borough Council is a single tier unitary authority. It is bordered by Oxfordshire in the north, West Berkshire to the west and Wokingham to the east. The local authority is made up of mostly urban areas. Reading has an Index of Multiple Deprivation score of 5 (with 10 being the highest and most deprived) and is rated 90 out of 152 (1st being most deprived). 

Reading is home to around 178,196 people, with the majority of the population described as White British (67.09%), with 17.7% Asian or British Asian, 7.19% Black British, Caribbean or African, 5.14% Mixed and 2.87% Other. The population has grown by 11.9% with the 65+ age group rising by 17.2% and 15-64 age group rising by 11.7% since the 2011 Census. Currently, Reading has a higher proportion of the population aged between 18-64, (66.15%) with the national average being 60.51%. 

Reading is part of the Berkshire West, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire integrated care system known as BOB.  This system is partnered by 5 local authorities, 6 NHS trusts, and 5 district councils. The Royal Berkshire Hospital is the largest acute hospital in Reading.  

Reading Council has 48 councillors who represent 16 wards. The Council operates a committee system, and has been Labour led since 2012. 

Financial facts  

The Financial facts for Reading Borough Council are: ​  

• The local authority estimated that in 2023/24. Its total budget would be £281,742,000. Its actual spend for that year was £315,621,000 which was £33,879,000 more than estimated.  
• The local authority estimated that it would spend £57,273,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24 Its actual spend was £60,847,000, which is £3,574,000 more than estimated.  
• In 2023/24, 19.28% of the budget was spent on adult social care.  
• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/24, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through ASC precept varies from local authority to local authority.​  
• Approximately 1960 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 500 people were accessing short-term adult social care support in 2023/24. ​Local authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.  

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.