Manchester City Council is set to invest around £5 million extra funding to keep neighbourhoods clean, green and tidy as it sets its budget for the next financial year
The council is also scrapping its decision taken last year to start charging for replacement recycling bins which would have applied from this April.
Council tax is set to rise by 4.99 per cent of which 2% of which is specifically to support adult social care.
The extra funding comes from Manchester’s £5.4 million share of a rebate to councils from Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s waste reserve which was announced last week.
The extra funding, to be spent over three years, will be used to improve and support the upkeep of neighbourhoods across the city. In the council’s recent budget consultation this was the top priority identified by residents – with 77.5% of residents putting it among the issues which mattered the most to them.
£4.6 million of the extra funding will be invested to boost services to keep neighbourhoods clean, including cleaning, combatting flytipping, maintenance of green spaces and leaf collection.
While significant challenges remain, the Council’s position has improved since planning for its 2025/26 budget began in spring 2024.
At that point the then Government had indicated there would be real terms funding cuts for local government which, together with emerging pressures, would have required deep cuts.
The incoming Government’s Autumn Statement reversed this position with a real terms increase in Core Spending Power instead. The Government’s financial settlement for the Council, which it received just before Christmas, was better than expected with a number of increases, especially in recognition of the nationwide pressures in social care. Manchester’s Core Spending Power increase of 10.4% is the highest nationally, reflecting a ministerial decision to direct resources to places with high deprivation levels and low council taxbases which had been the hardest hit since 2010.
This has meant that while £18.2m of savings from previously published savings identified for 2025/26 are required, the Council will be able to set a balanced budget for 2025/26 which also takes account of ongoing pressures. The savings relate to efficiencies and increased income generation not service reductions.
Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig said: “We are still dealing with the brutal legacy of 14 years of austerity and cuts to our funding under the previous Government, and that can’t be turned around overnight.
“But the improved funding under the current Government, which recognises this legacy, is a step in the right direction. Together with our careful planning, it means we’re able to bring forward a budget which looks to make lives better and improve the city.”
Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig said: “We are still dealing with the brutal legacy of 14 years of austerity and cuts to our funding under the previous Government, and that can’t be turned around overnight.
“But the improved funding under the current Government, which recognises this legacy, is a step in the right direction. Together with our careful planning, it means we’re able to bring forward a budget which looks to make lives better and improve the city.”
Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig said: “We are still dealing with the brutal legacy of 14 years of austerity and cuts to our funding under the previous Government, and that can’t be turned around overnight.
“But the improved funding under the current Government, which recognises this legacy, is a step in the right direction. Together with our careful planning, it means we’re able to bring forward a budget which looks to make lives better and improve the city.”
Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig said: “We are still dealing with the brutal legacy of 14 years of austerity and cuts to our funding under the previous Government, and that can’t be turned around overnight.
“But the improved funding under the current Government, which recognises this legacy, is a step in the right direction. Together with our careful planning, it means we’re able to bring forward a budget which looks to make lives better and improve the city.”
