Cautious welcome to government budget from Stockport Liberal Democrats

The new Labour government’s first budget has been given a cautious welcome by the Liberal Democrats leading Stockport Council.

Speaking after the budget announcements were made, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall said: “We are frankly relieved that there were some pieces of good news for Local Government in this budget.  The recent period under Tory rule has seen all public services run into the ground, with wild and unfunded spending commitments made with no plan of how to actually deliver them.

“We welcome the more grown up approach Rachel Reeves has brought and I join our party leader, Ed Davey, in congratulating her on being the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer and the first woman to deliver the government’s budget.  Make no mistake, however – the huge mess left by the previous Tory governments is clearly going to take years to fix.  Local government cannot wait years and we look to the Spending Review planned for next Spring to rebalance our funding and enable us to continue to deliver the local services that residents value so much.

“Whilst it is very welcome, the additional funding for social care is a drop in the ocean and investment in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities will certainly help.  But these are the areas that are crippling council budgets up and down the country and longer term, sustainable funding solutions need to be found.”

Cllr Jilly Julian, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources and who will deliver the Council’s budget next February, added: “Whilst we are told we will only get a one year settlement this year, we welcome the promise of multi-year settlements following the Spending Review.  This will help us to plan service delivery and even to achieve cost savings in some areas.

“The extension to the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments are most welcome. These will help us to continue to support our most vulnerable residents in a period where they are still experiencing a cost of living crisis.  The additional funding for other services really isn’t enough but it is clearly better than the further cuts we had feared and it will all help.

“To make meaningful impact on Stockport Council’s budget position in the next few years we need significant reform to statutory service provision, adequate funding to deliver local services and a growing, multi-year settlement that enables us to plan and improve. The alternative for all councils is managed decline and the threat of insolvency hanging over them.”