Parking and social care hikes in cost-cutting plan

Surging costs has meant Manchester City Council has been faced with some "difficult decisions", council leader Bev Craig said

A council's cost-cutting plan could see hikes in parking fees, litter fines and charges for social care across Manchester in a bid to save more than £40m.

Manchester City Council is consulting the public on measures aimed at plugging a budget shortfall that could grow to £77m by 2027.

Council leader Bev Craig said surging care costs meant the Labour-led local authority faced some "difficult decisions" in trying to balance the books.

Councillor Astrid Johnson, deputy leader of the Green Party, said: "Manchester desperately needs a boost to its funding to make sure our core services stay properly resourced and our local communities don't have to pay the price."

As things stand, the council's projected budget shortfall for 2025/26 is £29m but the figure could hit £77m in three years unless savings targets are met.

How does the council plan to save money?

As things stand, the council's projected budget shortfall for 2025/26 is £29m but the figure could hit £77m in three years unless savings targets are met.

Councillors want to save £41.5m by boosting income and making the authority more efficient, and about £2.3m in direct cuts.

Proposals to raise income include generated £1.5m by increasing public parking charges to "align with those in privately-owned car parks".

Fines for littering could also go up from £150 to £180, while re-tendering the contract for council-owned digital advertising screens could raise £1.35m.

But most significantly the council was looking into changing social care charges "so that those with the most assets pay the full cost of their council care", a council spokesman said.

The move would not apply to those in temporary or permanent care home places, but those who are cared for at home, and could raise £7.5m over the next three years.

The savings plan also suggested £2m could be saved on staffing with the removal of posts which have been vacant for a year.

Ms Johnson said: "Labour must keep its promise to deliver multi-year funding settlements which would help councils like ours across the country."

A public consultation on the savings options is open until 12 January, with the final budget to be set by the council on 28 February 2025.