West Berkshire Council was formed in 1998 following the amalgamation of Berkshire County Council and Newbury District Council. It covers an area straddling the M4 motorway, and has a mix of deprived rural communities and thriving urban towns, dominated by Newbury.
Its children's services and adult social care are run by a corporate director of communities, who has responsibility for 900 staff and an annual budget of £210m.
In 2015, Ofsted rated children's services "inadequate", finding various problems - including high turnover of social workers and use of agency staff - that left "children at risk of harm". The workforce has since stabilised (see graphics).
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