In this section: Your area
Reading: your area
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
Reading sets a Band D council tax of £2,613 for 2026-27, 27 of 296 councils in England from the highest. Police: Thames Valley. Fire and rescue: Royal Berkshire. Health: NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board. This page links to everything the site holds on the area; the full bill, the report card and parking each have a page of their own.
Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Key figures
- £2,613Band D council tax, 2026-27 up on a year earlier: +£126 (+5.1%) vs 2025-26
- £4.8mParking surplus, 2025-26
- 49.4%Household waste recycled, 2024-25
- 8%A roads where maintenance should be considered, 2024-25
- 20%Reserves as a share of spending, 2025-26
Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
What is the council tax in Reading?
Band D is £2,613 a year for 2026-27, and Band A, the lowest, £1,742. That is £202 above the England average of £2,411, 27 of 296 in England from the highest.
Of a Band D bill, £2,223 goes to Reading.
How does the council compare?
- Council tax rise this year5.1%Higher than the England figure of 4.9%
- Council tax per head£858Higher than the England figure of £796
- Ombudsman uphold rate88% (7 of 8)Higher than the England figure of 86%
- Reserves as a share of net spending20%Lower than the England figure of 50%
- Borrowing per home£6,766Higher than the England figure of £3,474
- Accounts, 2024-25Delivered by backstop92% of bodies had an opinion delivered by the backstop date
- Ofsted, children's servicesRequires improvement to be good73% of English councils are good or outstanding
- CQC, adult social careRequires improvement62% of assessed councils are good or outstanding
- A roads needing maintenance considered8%Higher than the England figure of 5%
- Recycling rate49.4%Higher than the England figure of 42.0%
- Major planning decisions on time67.7%Lower than the England figure of 91.0%
Each figure is set against the figure for England as a whole. They are plain comparisons, one measure at a time: there is no overall score and no ranking of councils. Higher is not always better or worse; what each measure does and does not show is on the methodology page.
The full report card: complaints, finances, audit, pay and services
Roads, bins and planning
| Measure | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
A roads where maintenance should be consideredDetails for A roads where maintenance should be considered | 8% | 2024-25 |
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B and C roads where maintenance should be consideredDetails for B and C roads where maintenance should be considered | 4% | 2024-25 |
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Unclassified roads where maintenance should be consideredDetails for Unclassified roads where maintenance should be considered | — | 2024-25 |
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Household waste reused, recycled or compostedDetails for Household waste reused, recycled or composted | 49.4% | 2024-25 |
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Major planning decisions made on timeDetails for Major planning decisions made on time | 67.7% | 24 months to end of June 2026 |
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Road condition is from the Department for Transport; each figure is compared with England as a whole in the report card.
What does the council make from parking?
| Authority | Year | Income | Surplus |
|---|---|---|---|
Reading UADetails for Reading UA | 2025-26 | £10.7m | £4.8m |
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What the law lets a council spend a parking surplus on is on parking fines and council parking income.
Who is your MP?
A council area can span several constituencies, so your MP depends on your address. Enter your postcode in the box at the top of this page to see your MP and what their office cost, find any MP by name or constituency, or see every constituency and its MP on the MP map.
How much crime is recorded here?
In the 12 months to June 2026, police recorded 100.8 crimes per 1,000 residents in Reading, excluding anti-social behaviour, against 82.4 across England.
Reading on the crime map, down to streets of a few hundred homes
Your police precept
A Band D home in Reading pays £298.28 police precept in 2026-27. It funds Thames Valley, which has £658m in all for 2026-27. The precept is set once for the whole force area and spent across the whole force area, so the crime figures above for Reading are not what its precept bought.
Thames Valley: funding, precept and results for the whole force
Who runs police, fire, health and ambulances here?
| Service | Body | Latest | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
PoliceDetails for Police | Thames Valley | £658m (2026-27) | £247 |
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Fire and rescueDetails for Fire and rescue | Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service | £47m (2025-26) | £47.43 |
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AmbulanceDetails for Ambulance | South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust | £382m (2024-25) | £83.72 |
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NHSDetails for NHS | NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board | £6.4bn (2028-29) | £2,716 |
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RoadsDetails for Roads | Reading | £4m (2025-26) | £23.94 |
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SchoolsDetails for Schools | Reading | £142m (2026-27) | £772 |
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Council spendingDetails for Council spending | Reading | £383m (2025-26) | £2,082 |
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Social careDetails for Social care | Reading | £134m (2024-25) | £735 |
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HousingDetails for Housing | Reading | £12m (2025-26) | £65.07 |
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Waste and recyclingDetails for Waste and recycling | Reading | not published | — |
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Each body serves a wider area than Reading, and its money is for the whole of that area. Its page has its funding over time and what is recorded alongside it; public services near you looks them up for any postcode. Water is not covered yet: see Discover Water.
Which bodies cover Reading: ONS lookups of local authorities to police force areas, fire and rescue authorities, integrated care boards and local health boards (Open Government Licence v3.0); where an area is split between integrated care boards, the one covering most residents is named.
How does Reading look against other councils?
See Reading on the council map, alongside every other council on council tax, complaints, reserves, audit and inspections, or browse every council.
Common questions
- How much is council tax in Reading?
- Band D is £2,613 a year for 2026-27. Every band.
- Which police force covers Reading?
- Thames Valley police force area. Fire and rescue: Royal Berkshire.
Sources for this page
| Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: revenue outturn multi-year data set (RO2 parking) | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | the 2025–26 financial year | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, under CC BY 4.0.