Your council

Wokingham: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Wokingham Borough Council: Unitary authority (unitary), England, South East. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E06000041.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Wokingham for 2026–27: £2,027.40 of a £2,497.70 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 5 opened (5 academy converter), 5 closed (5 academy converter)

Lambs Lane Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 October 2025
Radstock Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 October 2025
Robert Piggott CofE Infant School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 May 2026
Robert Piggott CofE Junior School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 May 2026
Shinfield St Mary's CofE Junior School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 January 2026
Lambs Lane Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 November 2025
Radstock Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 November 2025
Robert Piggott CofE Infant School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 June 2026
Robert Piggott CofE Junior School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 June 2026
Shinfield St Mary's CofE Junior School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 February 2026

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Wokingham reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Wokingham: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£127.4 million
Highways and transport services	£15.7 million
Children's social care	£43.0 million
Adult social care	£80.9 million
Public health	£6.9 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£3.4 million
Cultural and related services	−£468,000
Environmental and regulatory services	£18.8 million
Planning and development services	£4.5 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£17.2 million
Other services	none budgeted
Total service expenditure	£317.3 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Wokingham in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 187,200 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 41 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £32,259 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £811 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 10.7% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 1.9% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £496,537 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 9.4 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 69.4 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 68.0 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 3.7 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 93.8% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 158.7 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 9,070 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

54 seats in 2026. Run by: Liberal Democrats, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Liberal Democrats 29, Conservative and Unionist 19, Labour Party 5, Green Party (E&W) 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 54 councillors, by ward

Adrian Betteridge (Liberal Democrats) — Barkham & Arborfield
Joseph Barley (Conservative and Unionist) — Barkham & Arborfield
Mohima Bose (Liberal Democrats) — Barkham & Arborfield
Alison Swaddle (Conservative and Unionist) — Bulmershe & Coronation
Shahid Younis (Conservative and Unionist) — Bulmershe & Coronation
Yusra Salman (Conservative and Unionist) — Bulmershe & Coronation
Basit Alvi (Liberal Democrats) — Emmbrook
Imogen Shepherd-DuBey (Liberal Democrats) — Emmbrook
Rachel Bishop-Firth (Liberal Democrats) — Emmbrook
Lou Timlin (Liberal Democrats) — Evendons
Mark Ashwell (Liberal Democrats) — Evendons
Richa Singh (Liberal Democrats) — Evendons
Charles Margetts (Conservative and Unionist) — Finchampstead
Peter Harper (Conservative and Unionist) — Finchampstead
Rebecca Margetts (Conservative and Unionist) — Finchampstead
David Hare (Liberal Democrats) — Hawkedon
Melanie De Jong (Liberal Democrats) — Hawkedon
Rohit Ahlawat (Conservative and Unionist) — Hawkedon
Caroline Smith (Liberal Democrats) — Hillside
Moses Iyengunmwena (Conservative and Unionist) — Hillside
Pauline Jorgensen (Conservative and Unionist) — Hillside
David Bragg (Conservative and Unionist) — Loddon
Greg Bello (Labour Party) — Loddon
Majid Nagra (Green Party (E&W)) — Loddon
Andy NG Siu-hong (Liberal Democrats) — Maiden Erlegh & Whitegates
Mike Smith (Liberal Democrats) — Maiden Erlegh & Whitegates
Stephen Newton (Liberal Democrats) — Maiden Erlegh & Whitegates
Marie-Louise Weighill (Labour Party) — Norreys
Nagi Nagella (Labour Party) — Norreys
Rachel Burgess (Labour Party) — Norreys
Andrew Gray (Labour Party) — Shinfield
Jackie Rance (Conservative and Unionist) — Shinfield
Vishal Srinivasan (Conservative and Unionist) — Shinfield
Beth Rowland (Liberal Democrats) — South Lake
Carol Jewell (Liberal Democrats) — South Lake
Kay Gilder (Conservative and Unionist) — South Lake
Catherine Glover (Liberal Democrats) — Spencers Wood & Swallowfield
Chris Johnson (Liberal Democrats) — Spencers Wood & Swallowfield
Dave Edmonds (Conservative and Unionist) — Spencers Wood & Swallowfield
Leon Cook (Conservative and Unionist) — Thames
Sam Akhtar (Conservative and Unionist) — Thames
Wayne Smith (Conservative and Unionist) — Thames
Martijn Andrea (Liberal Democrats) — Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst
Martin Alder (Liberal Democrats) — Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst
Stephen Conway (Liberal Democrats) — Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst
Chris Cooke (Liberal Democrats) — Wescott
Jane Ainslie (Liberal Democrats) — Wescott
Rob Comber (Liberal Democrats) — Wescott
Chetna Jamthe (Liberal Democrats) — Winnersh
Prue Bray (Liberal Democrats) — Winnersh
Rachelle Shepherd-DuBey (Liberal Democrats) — Winnersh
Marc Brunel-Walker (Liberal Democrats) — Wokingham Without
Roberta Brooks (Liberal Democrats) — Wokingham Without
Séona Turtle (Conservative and Unionist) — Wokingham Without

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.