Stockport’s Lib Dem led council has ensured that there will be no increase in Council Tax for the fourth time in five years.  This is a significant real-terms fall in council tax over that time, helping particularly families on low incomes.

The Lib Dem budget is the latest step in transforming the council – a journey we started in 2009 when the then-Labour government told us about the cuts that were coming.

Stockport Council will have £235 million to cover our day-to-day running costs for 2015/16.  The money coming into Stockport as government grant is low, only £137 per head, much lower than that for our neighbours – Manchester £269 per head and Tameside £201 per head.

This means finding savings of more than £15 million to balance the council books. We are legally obliged to set a balanced budget where the money coming in matches the money going out over the year.

Our priority is to protect services that support vulnerable adults and children, by far the largest part of our spending.  We are doing this by working more smartly, joining up different council sections and working more closely with the health service, the police and the voluntary sector to cut out duplication.

We have not closed public libraries, ensuring that they provide help in accessing services – unlike some of our neighbours.

We have not closed parks, but are trying to work more closely with Friends of Parks groups to achieve greater efficiency.

We have set up a special programme of £100 million to resurface roads and pavements over the next few years.

Neither Labour nor the Tories put forward any amendments to the budget, nor did they propose an alternative budget. The Conservatives made speech after speech telling us how flawed it was before voting for it!  .

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