Setting a budget each year is one of the most important things we do as councillors.  What we agree within a budget has a huge impact on our residents, from the services we provide to how they are funded.  There’s been seventeen budgets during the time I’ve been a councillor in Trafford- the first ten presented by the Conservative Group and the rest by the Labour Group.  Each budget involves choices. Choices around the services we provide, the savings we make, the level of reserves we apply and the amount by which we increase council tax.

It’s important to get that balance right and so for the years that my Group has been responsible for the budget, we have followed the Government guidance on council tax, applied a prudent level of reserves, and done our best to support the local services people depend on.  This can all be evidenced in previous budget reports and our budget decisions are subject to due diligence as well as our internal audit team and external auditors.

Historically Trafford Council has never been able to amass reserves because of the way we’ve been funded- we are one of the lowest funded councils in the country.  And since 2010 the Council has had to bridge a cumulative budget gap now standing at £300m.

Historic decisions taken at the start of the 2010 austerity period -such as cutting early intervention and prevention services- together with changing demographics in the Borough have led to increased pressured in our needs-based budgets.  As it stands, 60p out of every £1 spent by Trafford provides vital support to our Adult and Children’s Services.  This is a situation almost all other councils share.

Had the council not taken the short-term decision to freeze council tax between 2011 and 2015, we would have around £14m more revenue to support the budget this year.  That decision to freeze council tax, together with the growing pressures in our needs-led budgets have caused what we describe as a structural deficit. They are significant contributing factors to our projected £12m budget gap for 2025/26.

Good financial management underpins everything we do as a council and this Labour administration works closely with, and follows the advice of, our Section 151 Officer.  A Section 151 Officer is the person responsible for the proper administration of our finances and has a statutory duty as part of the Local Government Act 1972.  Good financial management also means we actively engage independent advice from experts to check we are doing all we can to manage our finances.  Last summer we invited the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) to carry out an independent review of our finances.  Cipfa confirmed that we are a well-run council with good financial reporting arrangements in place. They also observed that we had historic funding challenges that contributed to a structural deficit.  Cipfa advised that we needed to consider raising tax levels to help address the deficit.

So that brings us to this week’s announcements regarding our ability to increase council tax by 7.49% and seek support from the Government in the form of a loan.  These decisions were not taken lightly but they are an important step towards rebuilding our finances after seeing hundreds of millions of pounds being stripped out.  We have a Council Tax Support Scheme in place and access to advice for residents who are worried about the ongoing cost of living crisis.  In the meantime, we will continue to plan for future budgets and make the case for Trafford to receive the fairer funding it deserves.

It’s also important to bear in mind what council tax does not cover.  Money for regeneration projects such as Kingsway in Stretford or our active travel schemes does not come from Council Tax- it comes from external grants where money must be used for specific purposes.  We have an excellent record for securing external grants for Trafford- including securing significant funding for Partington Leisure Centre and housing schemes.  We will continue to identify external funding opportunities to invest in our Borough.

It’s also important to note that we continue to have the second lowest council tax rate in Greater Manchester.

I appreciate this has been quite a lengthy explanation, but it was important for me to set It out.  I have seen a lot of misinformation being shared by certain politicians this week- and there will come a time where they will have to account for the misleading things they have stated.

Elsewhere this week I have spent a lot of time out of the Town Hall visiting different parts of the Borough.  On Monday I joined Sale Moor councillors at the opening of Brotherton Court in honour of Councillor Barry Brotherton.  I was delighted to see the transformation of what used to be known as Lindow Court into nine new apartments, managed by L&Q on an affordable rent.  The refurbishment was carried out to a very high standard and will make amazing new homes for people.  I was also pleased to see Barry recognised- he continues to be a brilliant public servant and was a Trafford councillor from the very start in 1974.  He is the best of Trafford.

On Wednesday I got out on some doorsteps in Davyhulme to speak with some residents there.  I then travelled to Partington to spend a couple of hours with a dozen residents at their weekly Wellbeing Wednesday afternoon.  I had a great time and I think we covered every possible local issue going.  It was lovely to be made to feel so welcome too.  I then joined the Mayor on hosting duties as we welcomed Trafford Youth Cabinet to the Town Hall.  We both really enjoyed showing members of the cabinet around the building and fielding lots of questions.  Giving children and young people the best start in life is one of our priorities as a council and I always want to take any opportunity I can to listen to what our younger residents have to say about the area and their priorities.

On Thursday I chaired a meeting of the Greater Manchester Green City-Region Partnership Board and then on Friday Trafford hosted the Greater Manchester Combined Authority budget meeting.

Finally, I ended the week back out on the doorstep in Sale.