MCFly 32- Manchester City Council: can we budge it?

We know this: Manchester City Council has a budget of around 1.2 billion pounds a year. Although the Council has emphasised that climate change is a priority, there was no new money in the last budget (see MCFly 18).
And this: That they're in the process of doing the sums for next year's budget.
We don't know this (though we did ask and were assured we'd have an answer before going to press): “What extra money the Council is going to put in its budget for 2010-11 (and beyond) for implementing the Action Plan (i.e. since this will be a 'change' to business as usual, either new money is being found- from where? or else money is being re-arranged or existing programmes are being re-branded as Climate Change money."

But going on Nicholas Stern's (Him out of the Treasury who did a report called the Economics of Climate Change in 2006) estimate that we should be spending 2% of GDP to combat climate change and prepare for the changes afoot, shouldn't the Council spend be something in the region of £24 million? Or is our logic wrong? Just askin', and when we get answers, we will let you know.

MCFly 018- show me the money!

The Council Executive has tabled its budget for 2009/10, and its medium term financial strategy for three years. The next things that happen are that it goes to an Overview and Scrutiny Committee on February 23, and then to full council on March 4. There is no danger of it failing to pass, since Labour has a 2 to 1 majority over the Lib Dems in full council. The budget makes for fascinating reading.

On page 38 (of 166) we learn that the "Major corporate priorities" are “Waste and Recycling, Reflecting and managing the impact of the economic downturn, Children’s and Youth Services, Climate change /sustainability."

But kindly remove your thumbs from the cork of that bottle of 1990 Dom Perignon White Gold Jeroboam, because there's No New Money... “Specific provision for Climate Change / sustainability and Events was made in last years budget.”

Yes, that'd be the million quid that they still haven't spent from the infamous “Carbon Reduction of Innovation Fund” (see MCFly #6 passim ad nauseam). Sigh.