The 'unjust' £250m problem set to rock Stockport

Stockport council has a mammoth task ahead. Town hall bosses need to save up to £60m over the next few years as costs to fund local services continue to grow.

To balance the books, new charges are on the table for garden waste collections, car parks, and council tax, as part of the borough's budget plans.

But a major new problem has reared its head which could slap the council with a near £250m bill, according to its finance cabinet member.

Employer national insurance contributions are set to increase nationally, and Stockport council said it was promised extra cash to help cover the cost as part of its share of the Local Government Finance Settlement - a pot of cash given to town halls every year.

But at Stockport council’s latest cabinet meeting on February 4, Coun Jilly Julian said the borough has been given no extra money for the national insurance increases - leaving the council with a massive black hole to plug.

She said: "We have been told that we will be compensated for the direct impact for the council of employer national insurance contributions increasing.

“[But the latest finance settlement shows] we won't be directly compensated for the entirety of the impact of that additional cost.

“We know that there's going to be a shortfall of £233m from the funding that's been put forward in the final settlement, that's almost a quarter of a million pound hole in what we believed from the provisional settlement would be available to the council."

The Local Government Association (LGA) has also warned about the problem.

In November, the LGA's social care spokesperson, Coun David Fothergill, said the increases to employer national insurance contributions are "likely to add significant costs for councils and the wider