Trafford Council budget is approved

Councillors have agreed this year’s budget at a meeting of Trafford Council.

Council leader Cllr Tom Ross described it as the most difficult budget the Council had ever had to set, due to massive cuts in Council funding from central government in recent years.

Schools, roads, towns, leisure centres, pupils with special needs and vulnerable adults will benefit from multi-million-pound spending plans.

Cllr Ross said:

“We’ve had to find savings every year for many years now and we keep getting tasked to do more with less money.

“I’m delighted that we can still continue to serve our borough, particularly the most vulnerable people. But we know we could do even more if we received fairer funding.”

Under the budget proposals, the Council’s share of council tax will rise by 2.99%, with an additional rise of 2% in the social care precept, in line with government expectations.

Overall, the Council has a revenue budget of £217.83m for 2024-25 spending and a capital budget of £154.56m over the next three years. Capital spending is for long-term investment and cannot be used to supplement the revenue budget, which is for day-to-day spending.

Cllr Ross added:

“We spend our money wisely and efficiently but our funding per person is simply too low. If we don’t get fairer funding for our residents, we will need to find another £29m in savings over the next two years. That’s cuts of more than 13% at a time when more and more people are needing our support.

“We will continue to fight for fairer funding on behalf for our residents and communities so we can provide them with the best services and support.”