Click to be taken to Stockport Council’s Budget Calculator
Stockport Council has published a novel ‘ budget simulator‘ tool on its website.
Users have to try to make the necessary savings in the Council’s budget for the next year, while making sure the Council still provides an “Excellent” service throughout the borough and protects Stockport’s most vulnerable children and adults.
The simulator gives a real insight into the challenge of preparing Stockport’s local budget.
Lib Dems on the Council have published their budget proposals for Stockport and invited public consultation on it. Details have been made available in Stockport’s libraries and on the Council website.
Residents can have a full say on the Lib Dem budget plans, which include another freeze in council tax.
This is in stark contrast to Stockport’s opposition Labour group, who continue to refuse to let residents see their budget plans for Stockport.
Stockport’s Labour councillors fail to deny claims that they would make savage cuts of the kind that have been made by next door Labour-run Manchester City Council.
Manchester sacked thousands of public sector workers and closed libraries throughout the City, despite £100million it had sat in its bank account it could have used instead.
This caused fierce criticism from across the country, with government ministers describing Manchester’s cuts as a “cynical move by a Labour council, which is intentionally cutting front-line services and playing politics with people lives.”
“Labour Councillors cutting services just to play politics with the coalition government is reprehensible,” said Sue Derbyshire. “Labour councillors in Stockport must not be allowed to do the same to services in Stockport.”
“I challenge Stockport’s Labour councillors to publish its budget proposals and show residents in Stockport that they have nothing to hide.”
Edgeley campaigner Alan Livingstone challenged local Labour councillors to come clean on their budget plans.
“The budget simulator shows how hard it is to balance the books in a fair way that helps residents,” he said. “Maybe Edgeley and Cheadle Heath’s Labour Councillors should give it a go for themselves and come up with a plan residents can see, instead of keeping their plans secret from Stockport taxpayers.”
