Bury’s town hall bosses have rubberstamped the borough’s budget - which includes a 4.99 per cent tax increase and £9.5m of cuts.
The council is facing a £14m budget hole despite receiving a ‘better settlement’ than expected earlier in the financial year. The funding gap comes due to rising demand and cost for adult and children’s social care that accounts for almost 70 per cent of the council’s spending.
The Bury’s budget-cutting measures are aimed at reducing its outgoings and improving efficiency - including introducing a broader use of AI technology. But the council will still have to use around £3.9m of their ‘rainy day’ reserves to fill the gap.
Introducing the proposed budget at a cabinet meeting on February 11, councillor Sean Thorpe, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation, said: “We’re at the point as with many councils where around 70 per cent of our outgoings are for adult and children’s social care… That leaves 30pc of our budget left to deliver everything else.
“In the past a lot of that has been resolved by cutting services. We’re also in a situation now where it’s almost unfeasible for a council to not to put up their council tax by 4.99pc.
“Fundamentally, we have had a better settlement this year - unlike some other councils. But it hasn’t alleviated some of the pressures we’re facing.”
The recent changes to the way the government decides how much money each council receives gave Bury a ‘small boost’ of around £5m. The council is also getting a three-year settlement. Bury will receive £248m for 2026/27, which will gradually rise to £267m by the 2028/29 budget.
But councillors still expect it to be a ‘difficult’ few years, with a predicted budget hole of approximately £21m in 2028/29.
To help plug the current gap, Bury also plans to increase its revenue by putting up ‘leisure charges’, car parking charges, and service fees to bring these in line with other Greater Manchester boroughs. There are also plans to introduce fees for things like EV charging applications.
The council also intends to raise social and affordable rent by 4.8pc, meaning social housing will go up by around £4.60 to £100.70 a week.
The proposed budget for 2026/27 will go to full council on February 25, where all councillors will have a chance to vote on it.
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