Councillors in Liverpool have approved a balanced budget for 2022/23.
Below is an edited version of the speech Mayor Joanne Anderson gave to the meeting on Wednesday 2 March.
The budget setting is a really difficult process in the midst of 12 years of austerity and cuts as well as recovery from a pandemic.
There are no easy answers, and councils up and down the country, including our close neighbours, must make heart wrenching decisions.
We have had a strong focus on consultation in this budget setting process.
We have taken everyone’s ideas on board and taken ideas forward to develop robust business cases for future years.
A CIPFA resilience review was commissioned as part of our improvement journey.
Based on the review we have done some things differently this year, than we did in the past, and will continue to do so:
- Increase our reserves, in order to be a resilient and stable organisation
- Make strategic rather than tactical budget decisions
- Develop business cases demonstrate that identified savings are deliverable.
This is a one-year balanced budget.
The Medium Term Financial Strategy focuses on the next five years.
The budget reflects our priorities in the council plan, which has been led by members.
This budget has been set out in line with the Triple Lock in my manifesto.
Our values in tackling equality, diversity and inclusion, social value and environmental impact reflects in our decision making.
The Triple lock is nothing new for us as Labour members.
The Triple Lock defines who we are as socialists. Who we are as a city that cares passionately about social justice and protecting its most vulnerable.
What you don’t see in this final version of our budget is the decision we have made in line with our triple lock.
The proposals that are rejected, the ones we have taken off the table. The ones we work to protect year on year:
- Residential care adult social care
- Children’s Centres
- Youth Grant
- Citizens Support Scheme for our most vulnerable
- Discretionary Housing Payments
Social Impact
- Maintained Mayoral Neighbourhood Funding
- Social Value Policy and framework in place to ensure that we get the most out of our £600 million a year spending power
- A review of our community resource grants to ensure fairer more sustainable funding to the sector
- Benefits we are starting to see already with opportunities going to some of our most disadvantaged young people
Environmental Impact
- Investment in decarbonising our buildings
- Developing a Waste Strategy across the region with a focus at a neighbourhood level for Liverpool
- Applying triple local in our planning decisions
Of course, our focus is about driving economic growth which has been made more difficult during Covid times. We need high value, high paying jobs to increase our economic productivity and we have secured investments for the following developments:
- £2 million for development of the Pool from Recovery Bid to national government
- £8 million Investment in Littlewoods Studios
- £20 million for National Museums and Liverpool Tate
The value-based decisions we make here today will enable us to be a leading authority by the end of 2026/27, recognised for best practice and best outcomes possible for residents.
We go into the next financial year with a reaffirmed commitment to sustainability, social value and the first budget which is agreed in line with triple lock commitments.
We’re investing over £5m to increase school places (Notre Dame, Liverpool College, Belvedere Academy).
We’re investing over £0.5 million in children’s care homes
We’re investing over £1.2m in our sports and leisure facilities
Over 1.2m in parks, play areas and open spaces
Over £2m in alleyway and bin infrastructure
Over £2m in green infrastructure and active travel
Over £1.2 million in improving Anfield high street
Over £7m in street lighting programme – LED lights
Over £6m in bringing void properties back in to use and working with partners to provide decent and affordable homes like on Denford Road.
Over £1m in Film Production
Over £1.6m in decarbonisation of LCC estate
Nearly £1m to protect Liverpool at Risk buildings
While we’ve made very tough decisions in the budget, we’ve also protected valued services [our Children’s Centres, Libraries, Leisure Centres, Council tax support scheme and other hardship funds.
That’s a huge achievement against a backdrop of 64 per cent cuts – not many councils can say the same.
Finally, I would like to thank all those residents and members who contributed to our consultation and thank the finance staff who have worked tirelessly over the last few months to provides us with the information we needed to make prudent financial decisions to deliver the Council Plan, Strategic Improvement Plan, and Manifesto Pledges.
You can read more about the budget options that have now been agreed here: https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/final-budget-proposals-put-forward/
