The Leader's blog

Balancing the books in Trafford

There is no doubt setting the budget for the coming financial year has been one of the toughest challenges I have faced in my political career, and I must thank everyone who has worked really hard to help us do this.

The pressure on council finances is immense and has put a massive strain on our services and this is only going to get worse unless we receive more help from central government.

We have closed a £18m budget gap for the next financial year 2023/24 through making savings and using some of our reserves but we can’t keep doing this forever. It has meant difficult choices as we battle to continue to provide the services you want and need.

Despite this we will still be spending millions of pounds on our children, older people and our vulnerable adults. People need our support more than ever as we face an uncertain future because of the reduced funding and increasing need for our help

It is important to not only do we have a moral duty help the vulnerable we are also legally required to do so.

We will also be spending millions on keeping your roads maintained and your waste collected and investing in new homes and improving our town centres.

It is also important to remember that we are a low cost and efficient council and we have been prudent in how we spend council taxpayers’ money.

I do remain optimistic though that if we get the support we need from Government we will be able to deliver high-quality services for all residents, businesses and communities in our borough. But for that to happen, we need fairer funding for Trafford.

Best wishes Tom