Budget to "ease financial pressure on our councils," says mayor

Photo: GMCA

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has responded positively to the first Budget presented by the new Government, describing it as a step toward easing financial pressures on local councils and addressing the UK’s housing crisis.

In a 76-minute address to the House of Commons on 30 October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in nearly 15 years, introducing £40bn in tax increases, including a rise in employer National Insurance contributions. Additional funding of £22.6bn was also pledged to support the NHS’s daily operations.

Andy said the Budget's focus on housing was especially significant, marking it as “the first Budget since the 1980s to get serious about the epic scale of the UK’s housing crisis.”

He added: “We wholeheartedly support the Government’s drive to tackle it with a new generation of council and social homes and are ready to deliver at least 10,000 in this Parliament.”

He also noted that the Budget’s measures would relieve financial strain on Greater Manchester’s councils, saying: “We are grateful to the Government for listening to our concerns on this."

The Mayor highlighted a new funding arrangement, which he described as a “huge vote of confidence in devolution in Greater Manchester.”

The integrated settlement, due to start next April, will replace existing funding streams, allowing the city-region to work  to boost economic growth and improve quality of life for residents.

Mr Burnham added: “We can now go further and faster, accelerating the growth we are seeing in our economy and the improvements we are making in the lives of our residents."