Mancheser City Council faces a black hole in local government funding, if the Conservative Government do not honour their commitment to support councils during the crisis.

A £167m black hole has been identified in this year alone, with £136m relating to lost income from Manchester Airport, uncollected business rates, council tax and parking charges.

While the government has given the council £33.7m to help with Covid-19 pressures, ministers have been told that is way short of what is actually needed.

Councillor Carl Ollerhead, Executive Member for Finance, said:

“Now the government must honour their commitment to councils that they would be given what it took to get through this crisis.

“While we have had some extra funding, it is nowhere near enough.”

“Unless that commitment is honoured, we will soon find ourselves facing some very difficult choices.”

You can read coverage from the Manchester Evening News here