The future
The last few years have been challenging for the Council given the high proportion of cuts made to our budgets at a time when the need for services such as children’s and adult social care have been rising.
This has been made worse by the disproportionate level of funding reductions the Council has taken.
But Manchester continues to lead the way in transforming public services, delivering efficient services and creating the conditions for all our communities to benefit from our city's economic growth.
The Council has maintained its reputation for innovation and reform in many ways:
- Using a commitment to 'social value' so communities see the benefit from our investments including commitments from suppliers to employ local people, no use of zero- hours contracts and agreements to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.
- Working alongside partners in Greater Manchester Combined Authority we’ve made the most of the opportunities to focus on local priorities for our neighbourhoods, industry, businesses and digital opportunities, and in tackling homelessness.
- Focussing on doing things differently, for example developing a population-modelling toolkit, creating a more meaningful definition of ‘affordability’ to support housing expansion and supporting the Manchester Living Wage.
- Continuing with the integration and transformation of public services such as health and social care to improve life and health for residents, with benefits already being seen in the number of years men in the city can expect to live in good health.
Our 2019/20 budget updates and develops our commitment to delivering the Our Manchester Strategy and the Council’s role in making our city the place where everyone can be everything they want to be.