The priorities for our 2017–20 budget were set out in the ‘Our Manchester’ Strategy, the long-term vision for the city created thanks to our most intense and varied ever consultation with Manchester’s residents, businesses, educators and the voluntary and community sectors.
The underpinning principles of our budget approach have been developed to support a change in the way our services are delivered and in the relationship between the Council and the people of Manchester.
The three-year budget strategy was agreed at a time when the city and the region had won additional devolved powers for transport, skills, health and housing which brought us significant opportunities.
But whilst there continues to be progress in growing the Manchester economy, there is still a long way to go to tackle the legacy of deprivation that remains. The need to restructure the city's economy and eliminate the level of exclusion which a still-high proportion of residents experience through unemployment, low skills and low paid unstable work, helped shape the Our Manchester Strategy and remains our priority.