Author: stockportlibdems

The budget proposals being put forward by the Liberal Democrat Cabinet leading Stockport Council were published last week ahead of the formal meeting this Tuesday to recommend these to the Council later in February. This includes the measures needed to ensure that a balanced budget is set for the year ahead in the face of continued underfunding by central government.

Speaking after the publication of the proposals, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, said: “The all-party Local Government Association have assessed there is a shortfall of some £4bn across English Local Authorities following a worse than expected provisional Local Government Finance Settlement last month. Whilst Stockport Council continues to be well run and with a robust, cross-party approach to our finances, even more councils are having to declare their effective bankruptcy in the face of continued inadequate funding by the Conservative government.

“None of us came into politics to cut services or make things harder for residents but, with some 75% of our spending on heavily regulated statutory services such as Children’s and Adult’s Social Services, all councils are faced with very tough decisions.”

Cllr Jilly Julian, Cabinet Member with responsibility for the budget, added: “Despite the stark financial landscape we face, I am pleased that we have been able to focus additional, one-off resources into areas of real need. We have been able to invest in tackling poverty within the borough and also focus more resources on gulley-clearing and cleaning up our streets, all things residents have told us are their priorities.

“We remain opposed to the government’s use of council tax increases to fund statutory services over which we have limited control and repeat our call for them to make additional funding available to councils instead of focussing on populist measures such as tax cuts.”

Stockport Liberal Democrats will join others in marking this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January. This year, the theme is ‘the Fragility of Freedom’- we will remember those who faced the erosion and removal of their freedoms before becoming victims of genocide. It further reminds us to not take our own freedoms for granted.

Stockport Council are marking the occasion on Wednesday 31st January with a commemorative event at Stockport War Memorial, where Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council, will be giving a reading.

Speaking ahead of the commemoration, Cllr Hunter said: “It is an honour to represent the Council at such a solemn yet vital event. We will be thinking of those who had their freedoms restricted, then removed, before their murder. We will also remember those who risked their own freedoms in attempts to help others, to preserve others’ freedom or to stand up to the perpetrating regime.”

Cllr Hunter added: “It’s vital that we never forget the horrifying level of cruelty and pain caused by the Holocaust. We mark Holocaust Memorial Day at a time when our values are challenged every day across the world. By remembering this, we vow to continue to challenge antisemitism, prejudice and intolerance while we pledge not take our own freedoms for granted, and consider what we can do to protect and strengthen freedoms of others around the world.

A new hospital for Stockport is the only long-term solution to the deterioration of the buildings at Stepping Hill. Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Hazel Grove constituency, is launching the campaign for a new site.

Cllr Lisa Smart said: “Enough is enough. We’ve seen years of problems with crumbling buildings at Stepping Hill Hospital with the final straw being the closure of the Outpatients B department late last year, following a ‘significant deterioration’ in the building.

“That’s why I am calling for a new, central hospital for Stockport to provide crucial services that Stepping Hill is struggling to provide.”

“For years the Conservative Government has been promising ‘40 new hospitals’, and not even pretending to deliver them. Well I’m demanding that Stockport gets the new hospital that it needs, and that you deserve. High quality, accessible and central.

“This will not only be the fastest possible solution to the closure of the Outpatients B department, it will be a long-term approach which will allow us to renovate what the NHS admit is the ‘ageing estate’ at Stepping Hill.”

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of Stockport Council, said: “As Chair of the Locality Board and on behalf of the Council, I have given my support to the efforts of the senior team at Stepping Hill to make the case for new facilities. Through the Mayoral Development Corporation we are building 4,000 new homes in the Town Centre and we have always said we need the right infrastructure to support them, including healthcare facilities and school places.

“Anybody who has been to Stepping Hill recently, as a visitor or patient, has seen for themselves the state that some of the buildings are in. I want to pay tribute to the many dedicated doctors, nurses and supporting staff that work at the hospital, doing such a tremendous job looking after us all despite those conditions.

“It is frankly a scandal that in this day and age they are having to operate out of such buildings and it really is about time the government gave us the funding needed to fulfil the ambition of a new hospital in the town centre.”

Cllr Tom Morrison, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Cheadle, added: “The closure of Outpatients B at Stepping Hill is sadly unsurprising after years of under-investment by the Conservatives. It’s clear that major funding is needed to fund the existing Stepping Hill estate and to develop a new, modern hospital for Stockport. Enough is enough, this is needed now.”

Under the proposals, critical services would be moved to a central site at a town centre site – for example, the outpatients services which have been scattered across the current facility after the Outpatients B closure.

The target is to then add key services to this site in the centre of Stockport, next to the new transport interchange – and ideally next to a new Metrolink line that Stockport also been campaigning for – and then rebuild higher quality buildings for specialist services at the current Stepping Hill site.

At the meeting of the Full Council last Thursday, councillors unanimously agreed with a motion that condemned the Tory government for continuing to fail to fund councils properly following the announcement of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement just before Christmas.

Speaking about the settlement ahead of the motion, Council Leader and Leader of the Liberal Democrats at Stockport Town Hall, Cllr Mark Hunter, said: “I think it is fair to say that we were not expecting too much, but the reality is that the settlement is worse than we feared. So bad in fact that the all-party Local Government Association immediately convened an emergency special conference – which took place on Tuesday of this week – to discuss a unified response from local government in the face of such chronic underfunding.

“It’s worth noting that the LGA’s own assessment of the funding shortfall is that councils in England face a funding gap of £4billion next year, presenting a serious challenge for every authority in setting a balanced budget.”

Cllr Hunter outlined some of the key challenges Stockport Council faces, including:

• The energy bills for the property estate have more than doubled between 2019/20 and 2023/24;
• The cost of bin collections has risen by 35% from 2019/20 to 2023/25 costing an additional £2.5m per year;
• Meeting Real Living Wage obligations to the social care market and the council’s supply chain will cost an additional £5.8m next year;
• The cost of transporting children with special education needs has nearly tripled between 2019/20 and 2023/24 with an increase of over £4m and expected to rise significantly further next year;
• The cost of supporting children looked after in external placements and foster care has nearly doubled between 2019/20 and 2023/24 costing over £11m more.

Seconding the motion, Cllr Jilly Julian, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance said: “The Minister for Local Government, Director for Local Government & DLUHC, Shadow Minister, Local Govt Association – are all in agreement that multi-year settlements are vital. And yet we have been given yet another one year settlement.

“Multi-year settlements would enable so much. Think of the intrinsic and extrinsic value that could be driven by being able to forecast with certainty over a longer period. The continuity. The economies of scale. Think of the difference that could be made to lives in our borough by leveraging that additional value.

“Funding pots to be applied for ad-hoc, being encouraged to plug gaps with reserves, advice being given to sell assets – these are all the minister’s suggested ways to resolve challenges in revenue budgets. Once more for those at the back – that’s one-off money, it is not there to cover recurring spend. If this doesn’t demonstrate that government are simply kicking the issue of financial sustainability for critical, locally delivered services down the road to be a future parliament’s problem, I don’t know what would.”

The wording of the motion read:

“This council meeting notes with concern the indicative Local Government Settlement recently announced by the Conservative Government. Yet again this Conservative Government is planning to pass the buck, meaning that local residents may be burdened with higher Council Tax bills, while at the same time receiving reduced services.”

Speaking at the most recent meeting of the Full Council, Stockport Council Leader Mark Hunter was able to update Councillors on the ‘Next Stop Stockport’ campaign to get Metrolink to the borough.

Speaking at the meeting Cllr Hunter said: “The extension of the network to Stockport has been promised many times but we are still waiting despite all the assurances. There have been any number of dramatic announcements, telling us that delivery of the business case is ‘imminent’ – but still we wait for our turn.

“Let’s not forget that when Metrolink was first introduced in Greater Manchester over 30 years ago, it was always understood that all parts of the city region would eventually benefit. After all, we have all paid into the investment in transport infrastructure through our Council Tax precepts over many years, yet Stockport residents are still to enjoy the benefits of the network locally.

“We have worked closely with the GMCA, TfGM and before that GMPTE, and AGMA, to advance our case and, we have engaged constructively at every step. We have even protected the preferred line of the route through the Stockport town centre within our transformation agenda and the work of the MDC. The new Transport Interchange, currently being completed, has been designed and built specifically in a way that can accommodate the arrival of Metrolink. Everything is in place – we just need the green light from Andy Burnham and co.

“Well, some of us feel we have waited quite long enough. Our patience is exhausted. The ‘Next Stop Stockport’ campaign is designed to highlight our demands and what we believe to be an irrefutable case to the relevant authorities and make clear we have been patient for quite long enough. We need action, not words and the time for talking has passed.

Cllr Hunter went on to advise Councillors that Mayor Burnham has been invited to a roundtable event with local business leaders in December.

Cllr Hunter added: “Our business leaders are fully on board with our efforts and the Mayor will hear directly from them just how important it is the finally come good on this longstanding promise to bring Metrolink to Stockport.”

As you may have heard, yesterday we lost a stalwart friend and ally as John Pantall sadly passed away.

John was a remarkable man in so many ways and a tremendous public servant for almost forty years. His commitment to the Liberal Democrats and Stockport Council was second to none and he was well-respected across the Council chamber. Loyal and reliable, John would never let you down – if he said he was going to do something, he could be guaranteed to follow through. John was a stalwart supporter of the causes he believed in and indefatigable in his efforts to represent the people of Cheadle Hulme North who he represented so assiduously over the years.

He was also a personal friend of many years standing, and I will miss his wise counsel. A kind and generous man who did not let his advancing years get in the way of a full and active life. I visited him in Stepping Hill just a few days ago, and he was keen to catch up on the Town Hall gossip and share his views on what needed to be done(!) – bright and alert almost to the end.

At this sad time, our thoughts and condolences are with Marlis and his family who I know were with him at the end. A great guy who will be sadly missed by all who knew him, a one-off and a legend in Cheadle Lib Dem circles.

RIP John.

Mark

Cllr Mark Hunter
Leader of the Council
Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group
Stockport MBC