‘Tough choices and hard decisions’ are on the way as Slough Borough Council reviews ‘high cost services’ – including adult social care and housing for homeless families.

The council says it could be more than £21 million short of what it needs to fund all of its activities next year, leading to a review of spending.

Council leader Dexter Smith highlighted the ‘serious condition of the council finances’ as he made the warning. He said: “Like councils across the country, we are facing tough choices and hard decisions that must also be fair for the communities we serve.”

Slough Borough Council issued the warning amid preparation work for next year’s budget spanning April 2025 to April 2026.

READ MORE: Slough Borough Council budget is ‘like having a box of cats’

The most recently published figures in July this year already predicted the council was on course for a £21.6 million overspend in 2025-2026 – and that was after finding nearly £7 million in savings.

But the council’s latest statement issued on Tuesday, September 24, said this gap ‘continues to grow’ – although it couldn’t provide a confirmed figure.

The statement said the pressures on its spending in adult social care and temporary accommodation for homeless families are ‘particularly acute’.

These are services it has to provide by law, and which it says pose ‘challenges for councils across the country’.

The two areas were the main drivers of a threatened £11.4 million overspend in this year’s budget, which the council said last week it had reined in with ‘savings’ and one-off accounting measures.

The council predicted it was on course to spend £4.3 million more on adult social services than it had budgeted for and £6.5 million more than planned in its housing department.

Both areas are now to be included in the council’s new review into its ‘most high-cost services’.

The council said: “The focus of the review includes adult social care and temporary accommodation for homeless families as well as other high-cost services; areas which are challenges for councils across the country but are particularly acute in Slough where our focus on recovery continues.

“The council is warning tough decisions will have to be made but is keeping residents and fairness in mind at all times.”

The review is the latest in a series of warnings that Slough Borough Council could reduce its funding for services.

READ MORE: Slough Borough Council says it has 'run out of road'

Speaking earlier this month a senior officer said the council could face ‘very difficult decisions’ as property sales are raising less money than hoped.

And plans to update the council’s ‘operating model’ setting out how it should work say residents will have to ‘do more for themselves’ as it provides ‘a more limited range of services’.

Councillor Smith said: “The steps now being taken are vital and essential to Slough becoming financially sustainable.

“The outcomes will not only flow into the budget we are preparing for the next financial year but also form a core part of the improvement work happening across the council and how we wish to work in the future, which must mean working even more closely with partners and residents.”