Next Wednesday, Bury Council will set its budget for the 2020-21 financial year, and also outline plans for the coming three years. For residents we find out what the Council’s plans are, and importantly how much Council Tax we will be expected to pay from 1 April 2020.
The final details won’t be known until next Wednesday, when the ruling Labour group makes its proposals, but we already know a lot of information.
The Council has already announced that the budget requires substantial savings, but this is less than might have been required because of ‘one off’ items that have been found.
The Council Tax proposal at this stage are for an increase in the Bury Council element of 2%, plus a further 2% increase in the adult social care levy.
However, this 4% rise is only part of the picture, as residents will also have to pay the Greater Manchester elements of the Council Tax (Police, Fire and Mayor). Added together this means that Council Tax will rise by more like 5% for residents.
Last week was the Greater Manchester Scrutiny Meeting where the Greater Manchester presented his proposals to Councillors. The proposals are:
Police – Council Tax will rise by £10 for a Band D property which will deliver an extra £10 million for Greater Mancheter police. This rise in itself doesn’t pay for any extra police officer, but the Government will also provide Greater Manchester with just under £10 million which is about 347 police officers.
Fire – Council Tax will go up 10% £6.25 for a Band D property. This is the first rise for the Fire Authority for some time in Greater Mancheter. What this rise means is that, for 2020-21 only, the Fire Service will not need to reduce the number of fire-fighters in post across the service. There are still big decisions to be made here, but these will be made over the coming year.
Mayor – the Council Tax we pay for the Mayor of Greater Manchester will go up by 45%. The vast majority of this increase will be going to pay for the Mayor’s plans to make bus travel free for 16 and 17 year olds.
We will do a full report next week, when the full budgets are understood, as well as what proposed your local Liberal Democrat councillors make.
The 45% rise for the Mayor of Manchester to pay for planned free bus travel for 16-17 year olds seems rather steep. I am aware of the argument for encouraging this age group to use the bus service but it seems unfair that WASPI women, who would have more disposable income, cannot avail of the same perk.