Gloomy outlooks, grim predictions, and dire warnings have become a feature across Greater Manchester town halls.

For years, councils have talked about tightening their belts in the face of government funding cuts.

Now, councillors fear they’re "at the cliff edge".

The word "unsustainable" has been used by two council chiefs.

One leader says "there’s nothing left to slice off" in trying to make ends meet.

Unlike the government, local authorities cannot borrow to finance day-to-day spending.

Legally, they must pass a balanced revenue budget — where outgoings are covered by income.

And officials in Greater Manchester say it’s getting harder and harder to do that. Worryingly, a quarter of English councils say they’ll ask for a government bailout soon.

Officers are therefore anxiously awaiting the Chancellor’s October 30 budget — so how are Greater Manchester’s finances faring?

What’s the situation in Greater Manchester?

It’s a mixed picture. The largest council, Manchester, projects it will face a £65m budget black hole by 2028.

This year, it’s facing an £17.4m overspend, which will deplete its reserves down to £6.5m if £50m of cuts are not made.

The other city, Salford, also has an in-year overspend. Its earmarked reserve has £6.8m left.

Bolton is staring down a £7.4m budget shortfall next year, but leader Nick Peel "suspects it will probably be more than that".

Next door, Bury is facing a £22m gap, and needs to spend £15m of reserves in the next two years. It’s a similar picture in Rochdale, which has "estimated budget gaps of £2.8m for 2025/26, rising to £20m by 2027/28".

Crisis-hit Tameside Council hasn’t updated its position recently, but previously said it "projected new budget reductions were £17.3m in 2025/26, increasing to £67.6m in 2028/29".

Oldham has overspent by £21m this year, and is struggling to make £3.8m of the £20m cuts needed last year. It’s forecast to have £41m left in its reserve.

However, some are in ruder health. Wigan has reserves of £100m left, and only a £17.9m budget black hole expected next year.

Stockport has a lot of reserves remaining at £82.5m. Trafford has £53m left in its reserve. Both will provide breathing room.

How has it come to this?

Central funding to councils was cut in 2010 by the coalition government, continued by successive Conservative Chancellors. In the north, local authorities often point out they suffered deeper-than-average cuts.

Manchester’s City Treasurer, Tom Wilkinson, said earlier this month: “If we had the average cut we would have £74m more. We have been disproportionately affected by austerity.”

However, austerity is not why they’re at the "cliff edge". Since the pandemic, costs and demand have surged in children’s services, adult social care, and special education needs.

For example, in Oldham, an external children’s placement cost £6,629 per week in February 2024. 12 months earlier, the same placement cost £5,128 per week — an inflation rate of 29 percent.

Why not just use the reserves?

Some councils — like Wigan, Trafford, and Stockport — have healthy coffers, prompting questions why they don’t raid reserves.

Officials are often uneasy about spending these because they can only be spent once. Furthermore, a smaller reserve gives councils a smaller ability to cope with emergencies.

If, for example, widespread flooding hit a borough, emergency housing could be paid for by the reserve. If there’s no reserve left, it would require emergency cuts to day-to-day budgets.

How many will need a bailout?

Nationally, a Local Government Association study has found one in four English councils are likely to apply for an emergency government bailout to stave off bankruptcy in the next two financial years.

Already, 18 authorities have asked the government for exceptional financial support (EFS), which allows councils to borrow from the "capital budget" to fund "revenue" spending — in effect, taking money from the pot of cash for long-term projects which can be paid for by borrowing to make ends meet in the day-to-day budget which cannot.

Nearly half (44 percent) of councils in the study said they would need EFS if government grants don’t increase this year.

In Greater Manchester, the Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted every council to see if they are considering applying for EFS. None said they expect to in the next two years.

When will we know more?

October 30 is budget day, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces the government’s spending plans for the coming year.

That could give some certainty to councils in broad strokes, if there is an increase in local government spending overall.

But individual councils will get their financial settlements, which confirm the amount of central funding they’ll get, in late December. From there, they set council tax rates and aim to pass a budget in March.

It will be an anxious Christmas for some.

Car parking costs more in Bolton town centre than almost anywhere else in Greater Manchester, town hall has heard.

Bolton Council’s place scrutiny committee meeting heard about the prices as part of a discussion on parking provision and the authority’s contract with NCP.

The committee members heard how parking could be key to encouraging shoppers to come to the town.

Cllr John McHugh, of Westhoughton South, said: “Obviously Bolton faces competition from Bury and also from the Trafford Centre were its free parking and also from the old Reebok.

“So, I think it vital to keep parking charges as low as possible.”

(Image: Newsquest)

Cllr McHugh said he had researched car parking prices at NCP car parks in Bolton town centre which varied from £4.50 to £4.95 for between two- and four-hours slots.

He said this contrasted with council owned car parks in Bury which charged £3, while NPC car parks excluding the centre of Manchester and Salford cost £3.95 for up to 24 hours.

Cllr McHugh said he found that car parking in Stockport town centre cost £3.60 for a four-hour period, while Piccadilly cost £4.45 and Aston-under-Lyne cost £3.45.

He said that the “shopping experience” was key for Bolton town centre and questioned how this could be maintained with parking charges higher than elsewhere.

Cllr McHugh said: “For Bolton it seems to be not significantly higher but when you’re competing with areas that have no parking charges whatsoever it will adversely affect footfall.”

NCP commercial and business director Tristian Arnold had appeared before the meeting and in response said that his team had visited sites and was aware of the disparity in prices.

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He said: “That’s something myself that I will take away and certainly review, especially after this particular meeting.

“And we will change prices so that there is a perceived price perception so obviously there is value for money, which is what we want to try to add.”

Mr Arnold said that at certain sites NCP had reduced tariffs and had seen an increase in volume and revenue.

He said that the company hoped to align this to be “in keeping with Bolton.”