People in Slough will have to ‘do more for themselves’ under a scaled-down version of Slough Borough Council, new plans have revealed.

A draft plan for a new ‘operating model’ setting out how Slough Borough Council should work is set to be presented to councillors. It paints a vision of a ‘smaller’ council with a ‘more limited range of services’.

The plan says rising costs mean the cash-strapped council is ‘running out of road’ and that it can ‘no longer afford to work the way it does’.

Slough Borough Council was ordered by government-appointed commissioners to come up with a new operating model in the summer of 2023.

READ MORE: Slough Borough Council may face 'tough choices' on services

Commissioners say the council has to find a way to run ‘effectively within a limited financial envelope’.

An update on the plan suggests the council will look to other organisations, community and voluntary groups to provide services to residents.

It says there will be a ‘more limited range of services delivered directly by council staff’. Instead there will be ‘proactive engagement with communities to indirectly support residents through commissioned partners/providers’.

The update says: “SBC can no longer afford to work the way it does, nor deliver everything it currently does alone.

“SBC needs to shift towards more enabling and convening and proactive engagement with our partners across sectors to develop longer-term relationships towards shared goals. It will be about working with our communities and potential partners.”

Proposals say the council should ‘prioritise what we deliver – ensure it is targeted and triaged to protect the most vulnerable’.

It will also find ways to try and reduce residents’ demand for council services ‘encouraging behaviour change of residents to do more for themselves'.

The plan also suggests that the council will work out of fewer buildings, encouraging residents to seek out advice online. It suggests that this will make the council more efficient and easier for residents to deal with. It says the council will still be ‘resident focussed’.

The draft plan comes as Slough Borough Council says it faces a £31.9 million shortfall in funding by 2028.

The council’s two biggest challenges come from its adult social care and homelessness services, which it has to provide by law. The plan says it wants the council to ‘consistently deliver to a good standard what we are legally obliged to deliver’.

But it also wants to find ways to reduce the number of people seeking those services by ‘understanding and tackling root causes to support prevention and early intervention’.

Councillors are set to discuss the update at a scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, September 24.

A draft of the plan – spelling out what services ‘we are going to continue to offer as a council,’ which will be offered by ‘partners’ and which ones the council is ‘going to stop’ – is likely to be presented to council leaders in November.

Council leaders are expected to endorse this draft at a cabinet meeting before letting residents have their say in a public consultation.