Stockport Council has published its budget saving proposals for the new year, in which it has to make savings of millions of pounds across departments, as councils across the country tell the Government that the financial pressure on local government is simply unsustainable.
With the proposals, Stockport Council sustains its reputation for sound financial management by maintaining a healthier position than neighbouring authorities, many of which have significant overspends of over £20 million- over 6 times that of Stockport. Whilst Stockport Council is in a stronger position, it is not exempt from having to make necessary, but difficult decisions.
Leader of Stockport Council, Cllr Mark Hunter said
We’re proud of how we have maintained robust finances given the unprecedented financial challenges that councils across the country are facing. We have been committed to putting forward a balanced budget each year- that will not change. However, to achieve this we are forced to consider a series of unpalatable options, the only power to prevent this lies with the new Labour government, who despite some modest steps in the right direction, continue to underfund council services.
Although we will balance the budget and live within our means, as we always have, we have to operate within the wider financial context. The awful state of public finances after a series of disastrous Conservative governments means that both the demand and the cost for Council services continues to go up and up, whilst funding from the Government doesn’t even come close to matching needs.
Local Government as a sector has been one of the hardest hit in budget cuts since 2010, the Institute for Fiscal Studies reports that between 2010-2024, Councils core funding per person has gone down on average by 26%. This is coupled with another issue- the demand of social care and children’s Special Educational Needs support is very hard to forecast and costs have been rising fast.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has conducted a survey of local councils, and is warning of a projected £564 million social care overspend across local government in the next financial year. The combination of increasing costs to provide services alongside the unpredictable increases in demand means that even the most financially sounds councils are struggling to keep up.
Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Jilly Julian said
We have seen a small increase in funding for some services from the latest budget, unfortunately it is simply a drop in the ocean compared to what’s needed. To make a real difference, there needs to be reform of both the way local councils are financed, and of the social care sector itself. Councils up and down the country are facing the same challenges, and many who have tried to avoid making unpalatable decisions have gone into financial meltdown.
As we’ve said, here in Stockport we will continue to make the difficult choices that enable us to balance the books and keep Stockport moving forward. We look forward to the upcoming rounds of scrutiny where councillors from all parties can give their valuable feedback on the proposals put on the table, and we will take their insight onboard as we go forward.
The proposals will enter its first stage of pre-decision scrutiny next week, which will allow councillors from different parties to feed back on the proposals, ahead of the budget being voted on next February.
