Council tax set to rise to meet funding gap
TAX bills are set to rise for households in Stockport - with the cash paying for more police and bus service.
Greater Manchester’s combined authority are considering budget proposals - including free bus passes for teenagers which would cost the average household in the region an extra £33.
A meeting heard leaders are proposing to raise the police part of tax bills by £24, to generate £18m.
This would fund 320 new police recruits, including 220 neighbourhood officers.
Mayor Andy Burnham had already revealed his part of the precept would rise by £9 for the average Band D bill to fund an overhaul of bus services.
Local authority bosses said they were effectively being forced to rely on raising tax rates to ‘bridge the gaps’ caused by massive cuts to funding from central government.
Stockport’s council leader Alex Ganotis said: “We need to make our position clear, clearer than it has ever been, that this cannot continue year on year.
“We need a fair settlement, not just for the police but across local government, we cannot continue to make decisions like this, the government has to step up.”
The proposals would affect all households in Greater Manchester and other leaders in the region have spoken out while ‘reluctantly’ supporting the plans.
The feeling is the increase in precept is nowhere near enough to offset government cuts.
Oldham Council leader Sean Fielding said the situation was ‘tantamount to a ransom’ because of the strength of feeling about community safety across the city region.
Mr Burnham had earlier this week unveiled his bus reform plans including the promised free bus passes for 16-18-year-olds.
He said: “This is no way to fund essential public services, let’s make that clear.
“We can’t raise the same amount of money from our council tax to support GMP that other parts of the country can, so you’re basically saying further down the road, parts of the country can’t have the same level of public services as wealthier areas.
“We cannot be in this position next year.”
And on his bus proposals he added: “Bus services had been trapped in a vicious circle, with passenger numbers going down, ticket prices up and services being withdrawn.
“We have got to try to turn that around.”