Stockport Liberal Democrats

After an at times heated debate at Stockport Town Hall, the Council finally voted to adopt the Liberal Democrat budget for the next financial year by 32 votes to 27, with the three Green Party councillors also supporting the proposals.

Labour failed to put forward an alternative budget or even an amendment to the proposals but voted against the entire budget.

Despite the difficulties in trying to protect services, the Council is required to find £20million of savings for the coming year as a direct result of underfunding by successive governments.

It is a legal requirement for each local authority to pass a balanced budget. This year a record thirty councils have requested emergency support from central government to do so, which they will ultimately have to pay back.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Hunter, said:-

“I’m disappointed but not altogether surprised by the lack of support from government, and this has led to us having to take some very tough decisions. We have simply been faced with a whole series of unpalatable options, but our priorities remain protecting the vulnerable, defending demand led services such as Adults and Children’s social care and ensuring front line services are properly funded.

“Despite all the difficulties, we are up for the challenge. Stockport has an indomitable, can-do spirit, and it is that spirit and determination that will see us through these tough times.

“I remain positive and ambitious for Stockport and all our residents and, by working together in partnership, we have proved we are a borough on the up. Much has been achieved already, but the best is yet to come!”.

Cabinet Member for Finances, Jilly Julian said,

“There were incredibly difficult decisions that needed to be made in this budget. None of us entered local politics to make such tough choices, but the financial climate means that we must take these types of decisions must be made if we want to keep Stockport moving forward.

“There are cautionary tales in every corner of the country, in recent times we’ve seen more councils than ever before declaring bankruptcy, or applying to government for emergency financial support. To be clear, this means asset stripping the borough, and slashing funding for any sort of non-statutory community work. They are options we simply will not consider in Stockport.”

In response to a media enquiry following Oldham Council’s recent decision to leave Places for Everyone, the Greater Manchester spatial plan, and criticism levelled by Oldham Council of Stockport’s earlier decision to leave the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, Cllr Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrat Leader of Stockport Council, said: “We make no apology for trying our very best to protect valuable Green Belt for future generations. It is what our residents want and expect. Stockport has always been a target for developers, which is why we chose to leave the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework in the first place.

“In July, after many months of delay caused by the chaos of the last Tory government, we were able to publish a draft Local Plan that was ready for consultation and was a true ‘Brownfield-first’ approach, using previously developed land and involved minimal use of green field sites.

“The Labour government have now changed the rules, introducing a new, compulsory housing target that effectively doubles the number of new houses they require us to build. This will require extensive development on Green Belt sites, but we still await government guidance on how this has to be done, stalling our plan yet again. The councils within Places for Everyone face a similar increase and will have to release even more Green Belt to satisfy this centrally imposed target. Labour nationally are simply giving developers carte blanche to concrete over our countryside.

“We have always accepted the need for new homes, but they must be the right homes, in the right places and central government targets should not trump local decision making.

“You might have thought that Oldham Council faced enough challenges of its own without the need to lash out at its neighbours with baseless and disingenuous attacks.”

Speaking in response to a press enquiry, Cllr Mark Roberts, Deputy Leader of the Council, said:

“Stockport Homes was formed in response to the Blair government’s move in the late 1990s to improve the quality of council housing after decades of underfunding by central government, resulting in very poor quality social housing nationally.

“Funds to bring properties up to the new “Decent Homes” standard were only accessible to Councils if they either transferred their housing stock into the hands of housing associations, signed up to complex private finance initiatives, or formed an arms-length management organisation (ALMO) such as Stockport Homes.

“Cllr Mark Hunter was Leader of the Council at that time and led an all-party delegation to Westminster to meet Geoff Rooker, the then Minister for Housing and Planning, along with members of the tenants federation. Following a ballot of all tenants, an agreement was reached that the best vehicle to access this desperately needed funding, which retained maximum control over the housing stock and housing policy within the council, was the ALMO route.

“As an organisation, Stockport Homes has always been high performing, and this has been reflected in the recent review that the Cabinet considered this week. It wins many accolades and awards and is considered one of the best housing organisations nationally.

“The main challenges seem to be around maintenance and availability of social housing.

“On the latter point, neither Stockport Homes nor the council can be blamed. There is currently a housing crisis, there are not sufficient funds available to councils to build enough social housing to meet need, and this can only be solved through central government intervention and funding.

“Funds for maintenance, repairs and capital works are also constrained. The last Conservative government invited housing providers to enter into so-called “self-funding” arrangements for their Housing Revenue Account (HRA) which were modelled upon rents increasing at a planned rate. Having entered into such an arrangement in good faith, the government then chose to make changes to rent increases which introduced huge shortfalls into the HRA. As with all areas of the public sector, social housing is suffering from underinvestment from previous governments and urgent need for injections of more funds.

“However, we do believe that Stockport Homes should and can deliver a better service for their tenants and have better liaison with local councillors. We believe that the measures set out in the report agreed this week will help with that. We need to ensure that there is the right level of control being exerted by the Cabinet to set the direction of travel for Stockport Homes, that there is the right level of information sharing with all councillors and of formal Scrutiny at both a central and an Area Committee level.

“We are at the start of a journey of improvement following this review. It will take time for the new structures to come into place, be tested and bed in. During this phase we need Members of all political Groups to do what we do best in Stockport, work constructively together in the best interests of the borough and its residents to deliver what we can within the constraints we face.

“Whilst that is happening it is imperative that Stockport Homes work hard with ward councillors to ensure that outstanding repairs and complaints are addressed, that progress is made with the large scale and long-standing issues such as Lancashire Hill, and that the faith some councillors have lost can be restored in short order.

“We are also very keen to keen to explore how we increase the accountability of all social housing providers across the borough.”