Town hall bosses are warning of job cuts in children’s and adult services and a council tax increase of 4.99 per cent as they try to plug a £26m budget gap.

Lollipop men and women near Trafford’s schools could also be phased out as with more pelican and toucan crossings introduced which would save the authority £100,000.

The scale of savings Trafford council must make to balance its books have been made clear in a stark new report to councillors setting out draft budget proposals for 2025/26, to be discussed at the council’s executive committee  meeting on Monday (October 21).

Savings identified include a ‘review’ and a ‘redesign’ of jobs in the council’s children’s and adult services aimed at saving £2.8m.

The report says saving proposals affecting staff would be achieved by ‘voluntary means wherever possible, for example by voluntary severance’.

Households also face being charged £45 for the collection of their garden waste, which will save the authority nearly £1m. And ‘digitised’ school crossing points may be introduced with more pelican/toucan crossings where possible, with cuts to lollipop men and women saving £100,000.

A spokesperson for Trafford Council said:  “Schoolchildren getting to school safely is a huge priority for Trafford Council.  

"We are planning to launch a long-term strategy to provide pelican-crossing and toucan-style crossings to enhance safe road crossing, especially at those crossings that are close to our schools.

“This strategy will not result in any redundancies and will be managed through natural staff turnover.

“We currently have at any one time in excess of 15 school crossing patrol vacancies, despite our very best efforts to recruit to these roles.

"Sadly, Trafford like many other authorities across the country are struggling to attract new school crossing patrols. For anyone interested in becoming a school crossing patrol please contact Trafford – Home | greater.jobs.”

There will be a pause on the council’s corporate events and annual library book purchases will be ‘deferred’.

The total saving and income proposals amount to £6.1m.

Town hall chiefs say the current shortfall in cash for essential services follows reductions in the funding awarded to Trafford over a significant number of years, alongside sharp increases in support needed by some of the most vulnerable residents in the borough.

Director of finance Graeme Bentley’s report also says Trafford plans to dip into its earmarked reserves to the tune of £3.2m.

He said: “These proposals will now form the basis of consultation with members of staff and, where required, the public and are therefore subject to change."

Mr Bentley added that the draft proposals were also subject to review by the scrutiny committee.

Council leader Tom Ross said balancing the books was getting harder every year and councillors now face making some tough and unpopular decisions.

Cllr Ross said: “We have suffered more than £300m of cuts over the decade and a half yet our services are more in demand than ever. This is simply unsustainable, even for a well-run council like Trafford.”

A recent independent review by finance specialists the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) confirmed that the council handles money matters well but faces historic funding challenges, Cllr Ross said.

He continued: “CIPFA recognised we are a financially well-run council but also recognised the funding issues we face. We are the lowest-funded council in Greater Manchester and need a fair deal. 

“We called for a fair funding review last year but this has not happened and we are now seeing the consequences.”

Council tax is set to go up by 2.99 per cent, with the adult social care precept rising by two per cent. Trafford residents will still have the second-lowest council tax rate in Greater Manchester, despite the increase. 

Cllr Ross said: “It is becoming harder to deliver key services within budget and so we will consult on reintroducing a charge, in line with the vast majority of other councils across the country and indeed some within Greater Manchester to help us to continue to provide much needed services across the borough.

“The key thing is that the tough decisions we make now will enable us to continue to deliver services and support us to set a balanced budget next April.”

Residents will be asked to have their say on a number of draft proposals over the coming weeks but Cllr Ross said there was no quick fix unless the council receives more funding.

He said: “This will be one of the toughest revenue budgets that the council has ever set and we are having to make some difficult choices. 

"However, we will continue to invest in our corporate priorities, including an increase in social care spending for our most vulnerable children and adults.

“We will continue to invest in roads and street cleaning. We will also maintain our capital investment projects in our town centres to deliver a thriving economy for all.

“We will also continue to lobby the Government for a fairer financial settlement for Trafford.”

This article has been amended to include an additional comment from Trafford Council on lollipop men and women.