This week Bolton Council finalised the local government budget for the town for the forthcoming year.

This is another difficult and testing year for councils as they face twin pressures of reduced central government funding and rising demand for core services.

I have been very concerned about the council’s ability to balance the budget.

Bolton Council’s officers have done a good job of managing the finances but every council in the country is under significant and unprecedented strain. We have seen councils of every political stripe go bust up and down the country for a whole host of different reasons.

Bolton Council, run by a minority Labour administration, is no different to every other council in having to make difficult decisions.

Councils have to produce a balanced budget and cannot borrow. We can all find something we think should be cut or something that should be a priority but in reality it always results in tough and unwelcome choices. I do not envy local councillors having to make these decisions.

Locally and nationally, Conservatives have tried to argue that the decisions forced upon Bolton Council are not inevitable and that there are other options.

This is not true. Bolton Council will be forced by the Conservative government to increase Council Tax by the maximum amount. The Conservative government is cutting a massive £2.5m from the service grant given yearly to the council, money which will have to be taken directly from services.

Bolton Labour is also fighting the planned government cuts to Household Support Fund which will see a whopping £5.5m, which would have helped the most vulnerable in the town, taken from the Bolton economy.

That is £7.5m in just two areas for the council to mitigate in the budget. This is without taking into account the rising every day cost of doing business caused by the disastrous Liz Truss mini budget.

Council services are getting more and more expensive to run and the government is giving councils less money to do it with, year on year.

I have faith that the Labour Group has done what it can within the tight constraints of what it has. I am pleased to see that it is bringing back free rodent control, something my constituents desperately need and I have argued for. The Conservatives introduced a charge which has resulted in rats being allowed to run rampant in our town. This change will help clean up our streets and bring some order back to the town.

Ultimately, we need a change of government to prioritise vital services and steer the country on the right track. A new local government settlement is needed which values the core services councils provide like social care. These statutory services are under strain up and down the country and the government has no plan to deal with it.