Bracknell Forest is set to join a Thames Valley mayoral authority with Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Swindon, electing a mayor in 2028. Bins and schools stay local.

Bracknell Forest residents are on course to elect a Thames Valley mayor in 2028. The government has put the region on its programme for a new mayoral strategic authority covering Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Swindon.

The announcement came with the Budget on Wednesday 28 October. Bracknell Forest Council said it comes with a proposed £9.1 million from the government’s Good Growth Funds, to spend on growth priorities while the authority is set up.

Nothing is final yet. The 13 councils involved now have to write the detailed proposal, put it to a public consultation in the new year and send it to the government in the spring.

Who would be in it

Two days before the Budget, on 26 October, the leaders of all 13 councils signed a letter to Jim McMahon, the minister for local government and devolution. It says they want to go ahead “on the basis of a geography that includes Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Swindon with Mayoral elections in 2028”.

The 13 councils are:

  • Berkshire: Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham
  • Oxfordshire: Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire
  • Swindon: Swindon Borough Council

Cllr Helen Purnell signed for Bracknell Forest.

The letter does not hide that the shape was argued over. It says the minister “heard a range of principled views on the best geography for the region” at a meeting on 21 October. That meeting, the leaders wrote, gave them the clarity they had asked for on “the geography acceptable to government”. They chose to proceed rather than “lose the opportunity”.

What a mayor would do, and what stays with the council

The councils say a mayoral authority would get more money and control over:

  • transport
  • skills and employment support
  • inward investment
  • affordable housing

It would be led by the elected mayor and a board with a member from every upper tier council, which includes Bracknell Forest.

Day to day services stay where they are. The council says Bracknell Forest would still run waste collections, social care, housing, schools, leisure and local planning.

The Budget also set out what mayors in general will get. The Treasury’s regional fact sheet says:

  • mayors will receive 20% of locally retained business rates from April 2027
  • income tax assignment for all mayors begins in 2028
  • the government plans to legislate so every strategic authority can introduce an overnight visitor levy

Those are national plans. None of them has yet been set out for the Thames Valley in particular.

The timetable

The road to a Thames Valley mayor A timeline. December 2025 and March 2026: the councils send expressions of interest. 26 October 2026: 13 council leaders write to the minister. 28 October 2026: the government puts the Thames Valley on its programme. December 2026: councils decide whether to approve the proposal for consultation. New year 2027: consultation. Spring 2027: formal proposal to the government. Later in 2027: shadow authority. 2028: mayoral election. The road to a Thames Valley mayor What has happened, and what the councils say happens next Dec 2025First bid Mar 2026Second bid 26 Oct13 leaders write 28 OctOn the programme Dec 2026Councils vote New yearConsultation Spring 2027Proposal sent Later 2027Shadow authority 2028Mayor elected Filled dots have happened. Open dots are planned and depend on council votes and the consultation. Sources: Bracknell Forest Council, 28 October 2026; Reading Borough Council devolution page. Graphic by Bracknell Online
The councils say a shadow authority would be set up in 2027 and the first mayor elected in 2028. Graphic by Bracknell Online.

The councils first asked to join the devolution programme with an expression of interest on 19 December 2025, followed by a second on 20 March 2026. From here, the council says:

  1. councils across the region decide in December whether to approve the proposal for consultation
  2. a stakeholder consultation follows in the new year
  3. the formal proposal goes to the government in spring 2027
  4. a shadow authority is set up later in 2027, after the legal decision-making process
  5. the first mayoral election is held in 2028

Reading Borough Council publishes the shared letters and a question and answer page for the whole region on its devolution page.

What the council says

Cllr Helen Purnell, leader of Bracknell Forest Council, said: “After many months of detailed work and discussion it is really great news that the government has agreed to place the Thames Valley Mayoral Strategic Authority on its programme.”

She said it would “bring millions of pounds of funding for housing, employment opportunities, transport and leisure to the area, which we wouldn’t be able to access otherwise.”

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. Your bins, council tax bill, schools and planning applications stay with Bracknell Forest Council. See our council tax bands page and bin collection days.
  • You will get a say. The consultation is due in the new year, if councils approve the proposal in December. We will publish the link and closing date when it opens.
  • You would get a new vote in 2028. The mayor would cover all 13 council areas, from Swindon to Slough.
  • This is separate from the money row. The council is still asking the government to soften its grant cuts, as we reported on 27 October. The £9.1 million is growth funding, not money for day to day services.