Council Leaders Budget speech 2017

Councillor Richard Farnell, leader of Rochdale Borough Council

The Council Leader's budget speech delivered to the Full Council on Wednesday 1 March 2017.

Thank you Mr Mayor.​

Tonight I am moving the seventh Labour budget for Rochdale.

It is also another austerity budget that has seen services reduced year on year as a result of Conservative government cutbacks.​

This year we have had to reduce spending by £16 million. In the coming year, it will be a further £15 million.

The total of Conservative austerity cuts imposed on Rochdale’s residents has broken the £200 million barrier for the first time.

You cannot take out such large amounts of money without impacting on the level and quality of the services the council provides.

And what does £200 million of budget cuts mean?

It means:​

• Poorer services.
• Unmet needs.
• Job losses.
• And as 80% of all Council Tax that is spent is on children, the elderly and disabled people, they are bearing the brunt of Tory cut backs.

But it doesn’t stop there.

The impact of government reductions has forced over £50 million of cuts to Adult Social Care since 2010.

It has meant fewer resources to properly care for the most vulnerable in our society at a time when demand is rising week after week.

Last year we were told our schools face £15 million worth of cuts under the new funding formula. £8 million of cuts to primary schools and £7 million of cuts to secondary schools. Every school has been hit. It will mean fewer teachers and teaching assistants; less GCSE options and a poorer education for all our children.

The last time I was Leader, Mrs Thatcher was in government. I can honestly say the level of attacks faced by the council is far worse today than it ever was in the 80s.

If the unfair way the government distributes grants isn’t bad enough, the whole way we raise money for council services makes things even worse.

I say this every year. The system of Council Tax needs scrapping and we need a much fairer way of raising revenue for local services.

With ever increasing devolution of services and resources to Greater Manchester, and the axing of the Revenue Support Grant in favour of retaining 100% of business rates, a new and simpler system is becoming more critical with every week that passes.

In Rochdale, if you live in a modest £140,000 bungalow you’ll pay £1,485 in Council Tax this year.

The most expensive house in London is a £140 million penthouse apartment in Hyde Park. The billionaire owner pays £1,376 in Council Tax - £109 less than Rochdale.

How crazy is that? Council Tax is a broken tax and needs replacing.

It is the same for Business Rates.

For decades, Rochdale businesses have been struggling to pay increasing Business Rates in the face of the worst recession in decades. It is a national tax but is collected locally.

One fish and chip shop on Yorkshire Street was forced out of business because they couldn’t afford ever increasing bills. That chip shop paid more in Business Rates per square metre than Harrods in London.

How crazy is that? Business Rates is a broken tax and needs replacing.

The rating revaluation will see business rates reduce by 20% in Rochdale, which is welcomed. It also means more prosperous businesses in the South will pay more.

Funny isn’t it. While Rochdale’s businesses have been struggling with little or no government help, as soon as Tory constituencies are affected the government steps in.

They are pumping £3.6 billion into transitional relief for businesses in wealthy southern areas. That’s more than the £2.6 billion it would cost to meet the social care funding gap.

It’s the same old story. If you’re not a Tory, you’re not a priority.

Mr Mayor. I don’t like to depress Members too much during my budget speech, so here is some good news.

Despite immense budget pressures, Rochdale’s Labour Council has:

Made no cuts to street cleaning; park maintenance or road repairs.
No library has closed.
We’ve made no cuts to advice services and front line social services.
Tight control of spending; rooting out waste and driving through efficiency savings has meant we have been able to invest in improving services and deliver on our manifesto promises:

• We have started 100 new allotments.
• Provided an extra £1.5 million in improvements to the environment.
• Clean and Green teams tacking fly tipping.
• 150 extra litter bins.
• An improved street sweeping service.
• Extra funds to support Britain in Bloom.
• A £1 million fund to help businesses invest, expand and create new jobs. 400 so far.
• £2,000 grant to employ an extra 130 apprentices.
• We are building 40 new micro business units to help small firms start up.
• We have doubled the number of computers in libraries.
• We have expanded our Business Rates reduction scheme for new retailers and continued free parking throughout the borough.
• We are reducing Council Tax for the poorest 11,000 of our residents; for new foster carers and children leaving care.
• The list goes on and on.

We are a council that is moving in the right direction. This year, we have achieved:

• The best GCSE and A Level results ever.
• The best ever recycling rates saving.
• Highest take up of apprenticeships in Greater Manchester.
• Major investments in Rochdale and Middleton town centres and Junction 19, Heywood.
• We are now a much cleaner and greener borough with award winning parks and stunning floral displays.
• And there are more improvements to come.

I would now like to make some important announcements:

Firstly, roads seem to dominate our budget meetings. Last year, we invested an extra £1 million in fixing pot holes, despite the cutbacks.

However, this year we will not be spending an addition £1 million on pot holes. We will be spending £2 million more, bringing the total investment in our roads by this Labour Council close to £20 million.

Secondly, the biggest number of complaints I receive is the charge – up to £50 – householders have to pay when their general waste bin is stolen. Many residents feel it is unjust, and I agree with them. A lot of residents feel the only service they get from the council is the emptying of their bins. It really rankles when they have to pay for their bin, too. We will scrap the charge from Saturday, 1 April 2017.

Thirdly, Rochdale owns a 3% share of Manchester Airport. This doesn’t sound much, but this year it produced a dividend of £3 million – which went straight into the council’s coffers. The dividend is useful and welcome in helping mitigate cutbacks.

Manchester Airport is the economic engine room of the North. It is a powerful symbol of growth and future prosperity.

In future, the Airport dividend will not be used simply to top up the general fund. We will use it to invest in our young people.

We will ask our Youth Parliament what their aspirations are, for the future – and the dividend will pay for it.

It could be funding free travel for college students; or re-introducing a school maintenance grant (scrapped by the government) to help young people through school or college. Or it could fund a youth zone. These are just ideas. Rochdale’s young people will decide. Cabinet will bring forward a report on how our Young People’s Fund will be set up.

And fourthly, we will bring forward a scheme where only Rochdale borough residents will be eligible to apply for Rochdale Borough Council jobs, up to Grade 3. This means cleaners, gardeners, administrators, carers, caretakers and many more will be filled by local residents – the people who live here, and who pay their taxes to Rochdale Borough Council. Around 2,000 jobs will be covered by this policy. And there are plenty of local people able and willing to fill these posts.

This is another example of the council putting Rochdale, Middleton, Heywood and Pennines residents first.

The recommendation is for a Council Tax increase of 4.99% (it is reduced to 4.7% once precepts are taken into account).

Just under 2% is for Rochdale Borough Council services. We are asking residents to pay a little extra to help mitigate the effects of grant reductions to the borough.

3% is the government levy for Adult Social Care. It raises just £2.8 million. It doesn’t even cover the cost of the new living wage for carers. The 4.99% Council Tax increase is a Tory tax increase. The cuts are biting deeper and deeper every year, affecting the essential services we provide.

The government is treating Rochdale harshly and unfairly. Hard pressed areas like ours are facing massive cuts while some well-heeled Tory councils in the south have seen their grants actually increase.

Government cuts mean poorer services we desperately need, and Council Tax increases we cannot afford.

It’s clear the Conservatives in this chamber don’t care. And the Liberal Democrats haven’t a clue. It’s about time they realised the dangerous and damaging impact year after year of cuts are having on our vital services, which so many of our residents rely on.

It is about time they joined with us to demand a fair deal for Rochdale from this government.

Councillor Richard Farnell
Leader of Rochdale Borough Council