THE budget took centre-stage at last night’s council meeting. The leading Labour group made new announcements whilst Conservatives and Liberal Democrats put forward their own alternatives. Local Democracy Reporter JOSEPH TIMAN looks at where Bury Council will be spending its money next year.

BURY Council approved a £16 million capital funding boost to regenerate the borough’s economy, with every township set to receive cash from next year’s budget.

The cash, which will mostly be borrowed, will offset the £11.9m of revenue cuts to be made as part of the three-year £32 million programme of budget cuts.

A total of £2.7m will be used to promote business growth while £1.3m will be invested into Bury Market.

Funding of £250,000 will go towards the Prestwich Town Centre Challenge and support plans to transform the Longfield Centre area.

A £100,000 boost will go towards developing the Uplands health and wellbeing centre in Whitefield while plans are being worked on.

Elsewhere in the borough, £500,000 will be used to support the Radcliffe Regeneration Task Group in its work to transform the town centre.

A £420,000 masterplan for Radcliffe town centre will include an urban design, planning and transport.

A total of £100,000 will be spent to increase car parking provision in Ramsbottom.

Meanwhile, £430,000 will go towards developing 3G sports pitches in the borough.

The next financial year will also see the council spend the final third of a £10m investment to fix the borough’s roads two years ago.

An extra £10m, part of the £16m, will go towards highway improvements from 2020 under Labour’s proposals.

The spending will mostly be funded by “prudential borrowing”, allowed by the Government.

Council leader Cllr Rishi Shori said: “Despite a decade of government austerity, we are determined to build a Bury fit for the future. This means investing in all our townships, creating opportunities for businesses to grow and bringing jobs and prosperity to our borough.

“We’re developing stronger neighbourhood working and partnerships, empowering our communities and residents to self-help where possible and improve the overall quality of life.

“Our priorities will always be to make Bury the place in which to live, work, study and live a healthy life.”

READ MORE: Opposition parties set out their alternatives to Bury Council's budget

To help balance the 2019/20 budget, more than £5m of council’s reserves will be used.

The Lib Dem leader described the budget as “unsustainable” noting that the council has consistently failed to deliver its savings targets.

He said: “They have failed, year after year, to deliver savings they have promised - just creating a problem for the future. This budget is no different — raiding the reserves and again pushing problems into future years with no answers.”

Conservative councillor Nicholas Jones also opposed using the council’s reserves.

He said: “The three-year budget appears to have been aspirations because, in reality, they have not delivered. Reserves have been used to fill the gaps but one day the reserves will run out and when that day comes, what will they do?”

The council has promised the needs of vulnerable people will be its top priority when it makes £11.9m of cuts next year.

Nearly 90 per cent of the council’s controllable net expenditure is now being spent on providing care to adults and children in the community.

However, Cllr Pickstone criticised proposed savings of £1.4m in social care which he described as the “cruellest” of cuts.

Cllr Andrea Simpson said that social care pressures for the next financial year are estimated to be £7m.

She added: “There’s nothing political about a growing and ageing population. There’s nothing political about people living longer with multiple conditions.

“There is something very political about how Northern councils have had their budgets slashed and been targeted more than their Southern counterparts.”

READ MORE: What Bury Council spends every pound on over the year

Cllr Shori described this final year of a three-year budget as a year of “change” and “transition”.

He said: “There are major changes taking place in our organisation which will bring together NHS and social care functions, in order to provide a more tailored service and to encourage people to take control of their own health and wellbeing.

“Support for the most vulnerable people in our society remains at the heart of our priorities, and we are developing new ways of working to meet those increasing demands.”

Cabinet member for finance and housing, Cllr Eamonn O’Brien said that despite the cuts, council would continue to invest in major projects.

This includes Peachment Place, an extra care scheme which has just opened its doors to its first residents.

The council says it will also use compulsory purchase powers to enable the rebuilding of the Summerseat bridge destroyed by flooding, put money into flood defences in Redvales and Radcliffe, and work with the government to bring new housing to brownfield sites like the former East Lancs Paper Mill.

Cllr O’Brien said: “We’re also providing extra investment to increase our number of foster carers and improve our early help service. Alongside this we have new policies to tackle domestic violence and keep our communities safe.

“The Social Capital Fund will also be continuing over this coming year, which is giving communities thousands of pounds for projects they have initiated and will directly help their local neighbourhood.”

Council tax is set to rise by 2.94 per cent although people who leave their properties empty for two years or more will be charged double the standard rate.

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Pickstone supported the “empty homes charge” which he said his party has long been calling for.

However, Conservative leader James Daly opposed the general hike in the council tax bill saying that taxpayers have faced a 20 per cent over the last four years.

He said: “The Labour Party’s mismanagement of Bury Council’s finances over many years has led to this appalling situation. Local taxpayers will be hit yet again with a council tax rise due to Labour’s incompetence and being unable to balance their own budget.”

Nevertheless, Conservative councillors voted in favour of the Labour budget, while Lib Dem councillors abstained.

Explaining his party’s decision after the meeting, Cllr Daly said: “We will always support proposals that put money into front-line services.”