Parliament has been in recess for the party conference season so, after a few days in Liverpool, it has been great to be back in the constituency.

I have been visiting local businesses, schools, and Brownie packs as well as spending time catching up on correspondence.

I have read all your emails and have been listening to your views.

I recognise that we are a new Labour government, and in the short period of time we have been in power we have had to take some difficult decisions based on the incredibly difficult financial issues we have inherited.  

People in Wythenshawe and Sale East are already paying much more for their rent and mortgages, for their weekly shop and their fuel after the disastrous Truss minibudget which broke our economy. We are having to take these steps to rebalance the economy in order to grow it. 

One of our ongoing projects has been the regeneration of our two town centres, Wythenshawe and Sale. I caught up with the developers of Wythenshawe Town Centre last week and it is great to hear about their plans for new housing and new green spaces as well as retail and leisure.  

Sale Town Centre’s regeneration is much further along in the process, and I have to say it is looking great. It seems no matter what time I go on any given day there are people of all ages using the shops, cafes, and bars.

(Image: Mike Kane)

I was particularly pleased to see the money secured by Trafford Council from the Shared Prosperity Fund to refresh and update the town centre down School Road. New lighting, new bins and bollards as well as new signage will really improve the public realm. Sale in Bloom have been doing some sterling work in the town centre and they have agreed to continue to maintain the planters once they have been repaired and repainted. 

The financial pressure on local authorities is widely recognised and it is something I have spoken on previously.

Trafford is incredibly poorly funded in comparison to other equivalent councils; they are in the bottom 20 of all councils for funding and over the past 14 years have lost £288bn of funding.

These are huge gaps in funding to close. We have pledged to give local authorities multi-year funding settlements which should see an end to wasteful competitive bidding and provide greater certainty on spending power.

I am hopeful that this settlement will allow more effective budgeting and allocation of resources.  

I wanted to pay tribute to groups such as Sale in Bloom and the multiple ‘friends of’ groups who are doing so much to improve and maintain our green spaces. I think I speak for everyone when I say the work they are doing is vital and much appreciated. 

Mike Kane is the MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East.