Covid recovery: Stockport Council to spend 'one-off' £1.25m on six schemes

The council's deputy leader acknowledged the increase in council tax would be a "burden" on residents

Stockport Council is to invest £1.25m in six schemes aimed at helping the borough's Covid-19 "recovery process" as part of the coming year's budget.

The majority of the "one-off monies" will be spent on flood defences and improving district centres in 2022/23, a report to the council revealed.

Youth, mental health and addiction services, veterans support and digital help in libraries will also be funded.

The report also revealed there would be a 3.5% increase in council tax.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said flooding and environmental infrastructure would receive £500,000, while £250,000 would be used to improve places like Cheadle, Hazel Grove and Romiley.

The borough's newly-developed Detached Youth Work Team will receive £150,000 to help it reduce anti-social behaviour, while "targeted personalised interventions" tackling mental health and addiction problems will get the same amount.

Plans for the council and armed forces to take a "joined-up approach" to supporting veterans and efforts to support those "digitally left behind" in the borough's libraries will each receive £100,000.

The report said the schemes had been selected to "support the recovery process and to continue to support the delivery on [the council's] ambitions and priorities for the borough".

Acknowledging that the increase in council tax would be a "burden" on residents, the council's deputy leader, Labour's Tom McGee, said he hoped the "positive investments" would help to tackle some long-standing issues in the borough.

The report will go before the council's cabinet on Tuesday.