Stockport sets annual council tax rates rise to 3.5%

Council tax will rise by 3.5% for Stockport residents after the council set its budget yesterday (February 24).

However, the council said this is less than the 4.5% allowable increase which government expects the council to increase council tax by to ensure it has the resources needed to deliver core services such as adults social care, children social care, road maintenance and waste management.

It said that setting an increase lower than the Government’s expected increase demonstrates the council’s commitment to balancing the impact of increases on taxpayers with the need for a robust and resilient budget to enable service transformation and ensure essential services continue to be delivered to Stockport residents.

The 3.5% rise is broken down as follows:

• 2.5% (or an additional £43.75 for Band D properties) relates to a rise in the Adult Social Care Precept. This will help to tackle the increasing costs as a result of increasing demand and other pressures in adult social care across the borough.
• 1.00% (or an additional £17.50 for Band D properties) will go towards ensuring the council can continue to fund essential frontline services, and also make investments which will save or generate funds to prepare the council for a future of self-reliance and sustainability.

Added to this are a number of other precepts which the council does not set but has to collect.

When added the total for the Band D council tax is £2,142.40.

This is broken down as follows:

• The general council tax to Stockport Council is £1,591.37.
• A precept for Adult Social Care to Stockport Council is £219.78.
• Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept for Greater Manchester is £228.30.
• Mayoral General Precept (including Fire and Rescue Services) is £102.95.

The council tax charges in 2022/23, which include the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept for Greater Manchester and Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services) by Council Tax Band are: Band A: £1,428.26; Band B: £1,666.30; Band C: £1,904.35; Band D: £2,142.40; Band E: £2,618.48; Band F: £3,094.57; Band G: £3,570.66; Band H: £4,284.80.

Cllr Elise Wilson, leader of Stockport Council, said: “This is a budget for our times. A budget to balance the immense pressures of today with the extraordinary opportunities of tomorrow.

“Every pound in every paragraph of this budget factored in the cost of living for the lowest paid and the most vulnerable. It’s why there is a project for veterans, an initiative I am particularly proud of; there is money to protect against future floods and cash to reduce anti-social behaviour. Most of all, It is a budget of fairness and of the future.”

She added: “No council leader wants to raise council tax, especially when our country is so unsettled. There is a cost of living crisis related to fuel, food and energy costs. Inflation is rising, and an increase in national insurance is on the way. Many will struggle.

“The choice between heating and eating is real. Every pound in every paragraph of this budget matters. Every pound, and that is why the rise will go towards tackling the increasing cost of adult social care across the borough, which impacts us all and is key to maintaining the welfare of our most vulnerable residents. That is what I mean when I say this is a budget about fairness.”