Council leader's column: Rochdale Council's budget for 2025

Council leader Neil Emmott

Neil Emmott is the leader of Rochdale Council and a councillor for West Middleton. This month he dedicates his column to the council budget for 2025/26.

My number one priority when setting the council’s budget is to ensure frontline services are protected, people’s jobs are safeguarded and any increase in council tax is in line with our requirement to set a balanced budget and protect the public purse. That’s why I was delighted that our wide-ranging package of measures, put before councillors on Wednesday 26 February, was voted through. When I became leader of the council, I said our residents want to see high-quality, value for money public services for Middleton, Heywood, Rochdale and the Pennines. That is exactly what we are continuing to deliver, through our ambitious and radical regeneration and investment plans.

There are three key areas I would like to mention around the budget. The first is, as a responsible council, our decision to increase council tax by the amount recommended by the government. We have to take difficult decisions now to protect our reserves for future service delivery. To avoid doing that would an easy and populist approach, but not one I am prepared to take. I will not play fast and loose with the council’s finances, it would be putting frontline services in peril and jobs at risk. Our council tax increase of 4.99 per cent, after two years when bills have been discounted by two per cent, is line with government forecasts, following a favourable settlement for the council from the treasury.
 

Read more: How much council tax will go up in the Rochdale borough for each householdPublished: 27 February 2025

The budget maintains the high-quality services I always have, and always will, champion. None of our 16 library branches will be closing, all of our children’s centres will remain open, as will our community centres. In addition our two free bulky waste collections, for every household will continue, as will the Household Support Fund, meaning thousands of older residents, vulnerable people and young families will be supported through food vouchers, help with energy bills, the warm home scheme and other cost of living assistance. In addition, we are one of the only council in Greater Manchester that continues to provide free bonfire events every November.

The second key area of the budget is our regeneration schemes, with a number of projects set out in the capital investment programme. Ambitious schemes such as the refurbishment of the Touchstones facility in Rochdale, the transformative work to Heywood Civic and the plans to improve and restore the slopes between Rochdale Town Hall and the Parish Church. We have also secured government funding of £20m, as part of the Long Term Plan for Towns Programme. This will form part of our wider regeneration plans across Heywood town centre, underlining our commitment to investing in jobs and growth in across all parts of the community. We have also had confirmation of a £20m Community Regeneration Partnership Funding allocation from the government, this is timely boost and will contribute to the proposed Station Gardens residential development at Drake Street/Oldham Road in Rochdale, as well as the Corner Plot, which is another residential development scheme on a site adjacent to the station.
 

Read more: Rochdale gets £20m government windfallPublished: 03 March 2025

I am also delighted with the radical planning framework for the Northern Gateway, alongside the creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation. Both have the potential to further raise the profile of the important Atom Valley project and help it attract even more funding and investment. This is a once in a generation opportunity to substantially transform the economy of our borough, in particular across Middleton and Heywood, and create thousands of new high-quality jobs, homes and improved transport links. The development of 1.2m square metres of employment space around the junction 19 area, will help to generate 20,000 high-quality jobs and bring a £1bn economic boost. In addition, we have secured the future of the Old Grammar School in Middleton by investing in this important property for community use, with more detailed regeneration plans for this building to follow.

The third key part of the budget was our investment in adult social care and children’s services, ensuring some our most vulnerable older and younger residents continue to be supported and protected. Our £13.7m package for adult care ensures we can support providers with national insurance increases and continue to deliver the real living wage. We were one of the first councils in the north west to pioneer the real living wage for our care sector, something I am particularly proud of.

In conclusion, our budget is delivering for all sections of our community. It protects the vulnerable, supports families, maintains frontline services and continues with our radical investment plans. It is delivered on the back of around £185m being cut from our budget by the previous government, over a 14 year period. The budget is responsible, balanced and progressive. Most homes in our borough (around 50,000 of them) are Band A properties and will pay just an extra £1.64 a week for their council services. I think that represents good value for money and, with frontline services maintained, radical investment plans in place, and the vulnerable protected, it is a budget that underlines the council is on your side and will make our borough an even better place to live, work and grow up in.