Council leader's column: The council budget and the re-opening of Rochdale Town Hall

Councillor Neil Emmott, leader of Rochdale Council

Neil Emmott is the leader of Rochdale Council and a councillor for West Middleton.

This month he dedicates his column to the setting of the council budget, the death of Councillor Peter Rush and the re-opening of Rochdale Town Hall.

The setting of the council’s budget is always a difficult balancing act. I have always said that our main priority is protecting frontline services, minimising council tax increases and safeguarding people’s jobs. This was my priority going into last Wednesday night’s meeting and I was pleased that the Labour group’s proposals were voted through by my fellow councillors.

This year we have again been faced with considerable challenges. Since 2010, around £200 million has been taken away from the council in national government cuts, so each year we are being asked to do more with less. With those significant reductions in government funding, there are clearly going to be difficult decisions to make.

The ongoing impact of the pandemic, inflationary pressures, energy prices and the cost of living crisis has made this even hard and, although demand for our support and services has increased, our government funding continues to be severely affected. We have learnt lessons, become more efficient in many areas and seen many strengths in our communities, but the reality is there has been a serious and disproportionate impact on our borough.

In a further blow for our community, the government has also decided to end the Household Support Fund. Over the last three years the council has received nearly £5 million a year from this fund, providing vital support to households, who would otherwise struggle to buy food, pay essential utility bills or meet other essential living or housing costs. The Household Support Fund is a vital part of the social safety net that has been crucial during this period of rising destitution. Quite simply, we are not in a position to plug the gap if the government proceeds with their decision to end the fund. I have urgently contacted Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, to ask him to reverse this untimely and unnecessary decision.

It was for these and many other reasons that the focus on this year’s council budget was about protecting services, minimising any council tax increase and ensuring our residents received a helping hand with their cost of living support. That’s why I was delighted that our budget was voted through without amends. It means all our borough’s residents will receive a two per cent council tax discount, reducing the impact of the 4.99 per cent increase to only a 2.99 per cent increase. As leader of the council, I am proud that, out of 136 councils who to date have passed their budgets, we are the only one in the country to have implemented this unique discount. This pioneering policy is a direct result of our prudent and careful management of council finances, meaning we have been able to build up substantial reserves.
 

Read more: Council tax rise confirmed for Rochdale but residents will get a 2% reduction againPublished: 23 February 2024

In addition, our budget ensures our delivery of high quality, value for money services will continue. We have introduced two free bulky waste collections per year for every household in the borough – the only council in Greater Manchester to do this. We have not closed one single library, not only single community centre and not one single Sure Start Children’s Centre in the borough.

Our wide-ranging budget also delivers an additional £10,000 for ward funds, to be spent via our townships. This will provide important community initiatives, maybe a speed bump, a community litter pick or a grant to a voluntary community body. I know how important these bread and butter services are for our residents, ensuring we are delivering for you throughout the year.

We are continuing to provide investment to continue regenerating our town centres, through visionary masterplans including for Heywood, Middleton and Littleborough. In short, it was a council budget which maintains frontline services, addresses the cost of living crisis, protects jobs and invests in every part of our borough. It is a budget in the true spirit of cooperation, which I was proud to move with the knowledge that we are delivering bread and butter services, day in day out, for our residents.

It was with great sadness to learn of the passing of Peter Rush. Peter lived a long and fulfilling life and was rightly proud of his title as ‘Mr Heywood’. He was a first-class community campaigner, who served residents with great diligence over his many years as a councillor. He was a person of great charm, a loyal family man with a loving wife, children and grandchildren, and someone who will be widely missed across the Heywood community and indeed the whole borough. On a personal level, I will miss his wise counsel and common sense approach to politics and life. My thoughts are with Peter’s loved ones at this difficult time.

Finally, it really good news that Rochdale Town Hall’s grand reopening will take place on Sunday 3 March, followed by a week of events as part of Rochdale Borough Festival of Ideas. It’s been a long wait for our residents and I’m delighted that they will finally get to see their beautiful town hall, fully restored in all its glory. Not only will they see the town hall they know and love, looking as good as it would have when it first opened in 1871, but they will see brand new features, like the Welcome Gallery, which makes it an even better space than it was before. We can’t wait to welcome people back in.