Budget choices mean difficult decisions

Hello everyone, and it's nearly that time of year when we have to set the annual budget and the council tax.

As the old saying goes, it's like déjà vu all over again. But make no mistake - this will be one of the toughest budgets we've had to set in a long time.

The effects of inflation have led to a huge spike in costs, not least in our fuel bills, supplies and construction. Meanwhile the demand for services goes up remorselessly, especially in those areas which already account for most of the council's budget, such as social care.

Rather than simply give us the money we need, the Government is allowing councils to raise it locally instead through raising council tax by almost five per cent.

And it looks like that's the road we will have to go down. The stark reality is that we have to make savings of £31 million - and that's after a decade of austerity which has stripped more than £100 million from our budgets.

Our focus has to be on helping those most in need through the cost of living crisis: from support with their council tax to providing free school meals during the school holidays. The council will be on your side.

And we have to look beyond the immediate crisis, which means pressing ahead with our major regeneration plans for Ramsbottom, Bury, Radcliffe and Prestwich. We're also proposing to spend £10 million on the roads over the next few years, taking our investment in this area to £30 million. Sadly, this only makes up just some of what we should be getting from the Government, who continue underfunding our road repairs budget by tens of millions of pounds.

The budget, and council tax, will not be set by the council until Wednesday 22 February.

Before it gets there, however, members will be debating the initial proposals at the scrutiny panel on Thursday (9 February). If you want to watch, tune in at Live Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting stream (7pm, 9 February 2023) (Council Stream).

And to read the full budget papers and proposals, the agendas are here: Council agenda 9 February 2023: Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Council Decisions).