Stockport Liberal Democrats

Following the budget council meeting last night, Stockport’s Liberal Democrat administration have secured for their residents the lowest council tax increase in Greater Manchester, and one of the lowest in the country, despite the huge increase in both costs and demand for services the council faces. The budget proposals received unanimous support – apart from the few remaining Conservative councillors voting against – and was not challenged by any amendments; a first in recent years.

Speaking after the meetings, Cllr Malcolm Allan, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, said: “The council, like everyone else has faced huge increases in costs during the disastrous worsening of our economy. Meanwhile, Stockport council has steered its way safely through these times with the cooperation of our political and business partners and in particular our third sector partners in the Borough. We think the budget represents a careful balance of competing priorities when we have yet again received a reduction in our grant from the government.

“As one of only 30 or so councils across the UK who have avoided the full increase in council tax, we recognise that all residents have faced hard times and need any help we can give them, even via an unfair Council Tax system. Meanwhile, our budget still gives priority to those most in need and facing the biggest problems. This includes special help to extend free school meals provision to those not covered by the government rules. In addition, recognising the diversity of our Borough and that, in each area, residents have different needs and priorities, we are allocating to every ward more resources to spend locally on what residents need most in their community.”

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, added: “The cost of living crisis is hitting our residents extremely hard, and it doesn’t look set to end any time soon, so we have done everything we can to deliver the smallest council tax increase possible consistent with protecting vital services.

“The recent, independent assessment by the Local Government Association (LGA) highlighted our strong collaborative culture and cross-party working has been key in making sure there was broad agreement for the measures we presented in our budget. The LGA also said we deliver high performing services with strong financial management, and this is a budget to continue that into the year ahead.

“For the future, we continue to be in the hands of central government with only year by year financial settlements, which do not allow us to plan effectively and manage the peaks and troughs of demand we face over time. We need government to deliver on the long-promised financial solution to adult social care from general taxation, rather than continuing to push an ever increasing burden onto council tax payers. Liberal Democrats still believe that council tax is an unfair and regressive form of taxation that needs complete overhaul.

“Make no mistake, the council tax increase we had to make this year is entirely down to the Conservative government’s failure to adequately fund local government, with Stockport receiving £1.4m less funding than last year, despite the huge increase in energy costs and inflation.”

Speaking on the publication of the Local Government Association’s report into the recent Corporate Peer Challenge, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, said: “In just the first few months of our new administration we sought an external assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the council, so that we would know where our strengths lie and where to target effort towards improvement.

“I am delighted that the week-long, independent assessment concluded that Stockport Council is in excellent shape. They describe us as an impressive organisation that works closely with local partners, carrying out a strong place-shaping and leadership role, delivering high performing services with strong financial management and in the interests of our residents. They highlighted our strong, collaborative culture and the strong and trusting relationships across councillors and officers, all at a time when no one party has overall control.

“These are things that have been built up over many years and cannot be taken for granted. With all-out elections in May there will be many new faces in the council chamber and many experienced members will be stepping down. I and my colleagues will ensure that we do everything we can to continue to deliver a bright future for our town and provide the highest quality services that our carefully managed finances allow.”

Since 2010, Stockport Council has had to make savings and cuts totalling over £133m in the face of rising costs, increasing demand for services and shrinking financial support from central government.

To balance the books the Liberal Democrat Cabinet has no option but to apply the government’s 2% adult social care precept and increase council tax by a further 1.99%. Against a referendum limit of 4.99%, we believe this will be the lowest council tax increase across Greater Manchester.

Speaking ahead of the Budget Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 31st January, Cllr Malcolm Allan, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, said: “With inflation at a 40 year high and in the midst of a cost of living crisis, we have seen a £1.5m cash reduction in the funding we receive from the government. We have done all we can to ensure the lowest possible council tax increase this year, including finding £7.8m of savings away from front line services which support our most vulnerable residents. This is still insufficient to allow us to freeze council tax as we had hoped.

“Like households across the borough, the bills the council faces have all leapt in the past year. One very simple example is the cost of electricity. Just lighting our streets costs the council £2.5m more now than it did a year ago, despite years of investment in modern, low energy bulbs.”

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, added: “We knew the challenge this year would be considerable when we formed the administration back in May, but we set out a bold ambition to freeze council tax because of the cost of living crisis. Since then the ongoing war in Ukraine, the continued impacts of Brexit and of Covid, the disastrous impact on our economy of the brief Liz Truss government and the subsequent Autumn Statement have all worked to make this even harder.

“Make no mistake, this increase is down to the Conservative government. The Tories continue to push the cost of delivering local services, including adult social care, on to council tax payers rather than funding them fairly through general taxation, meaning our ambition to freeze council tax has proved impossible to achieve. We will continue to keep council tax as low as possible in future years, but we can only do so if the government provides adequate funding in the face of soaring costs and increasing demand for our support services.”

Stockport Liberal Democrats join with others in marking this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, on the theme of ‘Ordinary People’ – ordinary people who were perpetrators, bystanders, rescuers, witnesses and also victims of the Nazi Holocaust and also those since in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

The council are marking the occasion later today with a commemorative event at Stockport War Memorial.

Speaking ahead of the commemoration, Cllr Wendy Meikle, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, said: “I am honoured to represent my Group at this solemn but important commemoration, thinking about the ordinary people who enabled or carried out mass killings, those who acted to try to save others, and those who were themselves killed.

“I will be thinking about how we as ordinary people can play a bigger part in challenging the prejudice and division which has been used to excuse unconscionable acts among those identified as being ‘other’.”

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, added: “We must never forget the scale and cruelty of the suffering in the Holocaust. In marking Holocaust Memorial Day, at a time when liberal values continue to be challenged in our own country as well as across the world, we must continue to challenge antisemitism, fight prejudice and intolerance, and do all we can to oppose all forms of bigotry.”

Liberal Democrat run Stockport Council has become the first council in the country to launch an official Sewage Inquiry.

There is widespread outrage across Stockport after United Utilities dumped sewage into the river Mersey a staggering 977 times last year, lasting 3,271 hours. Across Stockport, the water firm discharged 13,372 hours of sewage discharges into local rivers.

Analysis of company house records by the Liberal Democrats found United Utilities are paying their executives over £2 million in bonuses despite polluting rivers across the North West, including the Lake District.

Local people are raising fears of dogs and children paddling in the River Goyt and the Mersey.

Councillor Lisa Smart is chairing the inquiry and last night heard the first oral evidence at a public meeting. United Utilities were asked questions by Lisa Smart on the eye watering number of sewage dumps into rivers.

The inquiry has already received written evidence from the Environment Agency which found “Achieving Good Ecological Status or good water quality at an element level in these waterbodies will be extremely challenging and will largely be predicated on Water Industry investment”.

Once the inquiry is complete, Cllr Smart will publish a report with recommendations to both United Utilities and the Government.

Chair of the Stockport Sewage Inquiry, Liberal Democrat Councillor Lisa Smart, said: “The sewage crisis risks ruining our treasured rivers forever. People in Stockport are furious that water companies are being allowed to get away with it.

“United Utilities are rewarding their executives with eye-watering bonuses whilst local people fear walking their dogs along our local rivers and streams such as the Mersey, the Goyt and Poise Brook. We also have Otters who live in the area and are being forced to swim in foul sewage.

“This is a national scandal which pollutes our rivers and puts animals’ lives at risk.

“If the Government won’t act, then we will. I am proud to chair the first ever official inquiry into sewage being discharged into rivers. Conservative Ministers have ignored local people in Stockport for too long on the sewage crisis. Now our voices will be heard at last.”

Following the recent statement made by Michael Gove, announcing wholesale changes to the rules around Local Plans and hinting at major changes to be announced about a new National Planning Policy Framework before Christmas, Stockport Council has taken the decision to pause the consultation on our own draft Local Plan once again.

Speaking after the decision to pause, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, said: “Since 2016 the Liberal Democrats on Stockport Council have been arguing that the government’s approach to Local Plans was wrong and that their top-down housing targets were just a licence to concrete over the Green Belt. In late August, because of so many wildly conflicting statements and proposals being made by Conservative leadership candidates at that time, we decided to pause our consultation on the Local Plan and save £200k, the cost of the consultation, in the process as it was clear that wholesale changes could be made to the planning rules and we wanted to make sure we did not pre-empt a move by government which might enable us to protect our Green Belt.

Cllr Colin MacAlister, Cabinet Member with responsibility for planning matters, added: “The announcement by Michael Gove vindicates this pause and highlights the folly of opposition councillors railing against the original pause. The decision to defer has not been taken lightly, with legal advice informing it. We will issue a revised timetable as soon as we are able to do so because we remain committed to having the right Local Plan for Stockport that does as much as it can to protect our vital Green Belt.”