Council has 'no option' but to pass 7.5% tax hike

The leader of a council where taxes have risen by 7.49% - the highest of any authority in Greater Manchester - has said the hike was unavoidable.

It was backed by Labour-led Trafford Council at a budget-setting meeting on Monday to help plug a £12.8m financial deficit.

Conservative opposition leader Nathan Evans said Labour had driven the authority "to the brink of bankruptcy" since taking control in 2018.

But council leader Tom Ross said the shortfall was largely down a Conservative government council tax freeze between 2011 and 2015, which "cost us £14m in today's money".

He told BBC Radio Manchester the council was in a "very difficult" position, so the hike was required to put Trafford on a "sustainable financial footing".

The area had low levels of funding compared to other councils and an ageing population meant "the financial envelope with which we operate in is getting more and more restricted", Ross added.

He said: "We need to have a fundamental review of the way that government is funding local government that has to reflect the demographics of the area."

Trafford is one of four struggling council's in the north-west of England where the government relaxed budgeting rules to help them tackle a £12.8m deficit.

A £9.6m loan will be handed to the council by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to help plug the gap.

Evans said the Labour group, in control since 2018, have had seven years "to get it right" but had left Trafford "in crisis".

He said the National Insurance hike during the Labour government's autumn budget had "put a further strain on already stretched finances".

"We are left with the fourth highest council tax hike in England, borrowing to pay debt interest and no end in sight," he said.

The council meeting heard that repaying that loan could cost nearly £1m a year in interest payments for the next 20 years.

The shortfall has grown by £3m since October, partly due to chancellor Rachel Reeves' hike in National Insurance contributions for employers.

Councillor Jo Harding, the executive member for finance, said increases in the costs in child services, adult social care, and temporary accommodation for the homeless had also put pressure on council finances.

Liberal Democrat leader Shaun Ennis said the hike was a "short-term solution that will destroy public confidence in the council in the long-term".

He said: "This budget will do nothing to improve out local services. Go out for a walk, anywhere in Trafford and look around. Look at the roads, the drains the state of the pavements and be honest with yourselves.

"Trafford Council is failing on the basics."

Meanwhile Greens leader Michael Welton leader said residents would see their bills rise "two-and-a-half times the rate of inflation" and a decline in the quality of services.

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