Tameside Council must make £10m in budget cuts to balance books

Tameside Council must make reductions of just under £10m in order to balance the books for the next financial year (2024/25).

Finance bosses at the council have put these additional budget strains down to inflation and increased demand on their services. They added that unless there is notable change in this trend, they will have to find a further £39.82m worth of budget reductions by 2028/29 – while at the same time delivering critical front-line services. 

The authority says the £9.651m they have to find for next year would largely be funded by a proposed increase in council tax of 4.99 per cent – the same as last year. 

This tax increase would see an additional £5.7m generated for the council coffers. However the further £4m shortfall may lead to tough decisions for bosses.

The council has made no immediate plans for reductions to their services such as bin collections, children’s services, adult social care, and homelessness. Despite this, the Medium Term Financial Strategy does say that ‘the council is likely to face difficult decisions around levels of fee charging, service provision and whether it should cease delivery of some services in its entirety’. 

The council has used over £40m in reserves to balance the books in the last five years. Due to reserves being finite, however, the authority says it is not seen as appropriate to rely on them continuously.

Coun Jacqueline North, Tameside Council’s lead member for finance, said: “Since 2010, Tameside has faced real-terms reductions in government support, and despite the welcome increases in funding over the last two years it just hasn’t been enough. The council has had to manage inflation costs across every service it delivers – Children’s Services placements have risen by 60 per cent, pothole repairs have doubled in cost. 

“Like other local authorities we have had to react to an unprecedented rise in demand for social care alongside sharp increases in the cost of that care. All this is happening whilst we have seen the amount of real-terms funding available to provide council services reduce each year by £688 for every household in these thirteen years.

“We know for many the cost-of-living crisis is far from over yet half of any increase in the council’s spending power next year is likely to be funded by residents through Council Tax. To date the government has not taken any steps to deliver their promises on fairer funding across the country. 

“This means no account is taken of local levels of poverty, wages, population need, or the ability of a local authority to raise income locally. With our budget proposals for 2024/25 we are seeking to set out a realistic and effective way forward in this economic climate and we really want to know residents’ opinions and ideas. 

“We are encouraging people to give their views on their priorities by taking part in our budget consultation, which is open until 2 February 2024, online at www.tameside.gov.uk/budgetconversation2024-25 or they can ask for a paper copy of the consultation at any of our libraries across the borough.”

The consultation on the budget is open to the public at www.tameside.gov.uk/budgetconversation2024-25 until Friday February 2, 2024.