Stockport has been snubbed by the government after missing out on vital cash to improve libraries – prompting Lib Dem council leader Mark Roberts to speak out.

The council applied for nearly £500,000 from a pot of £6.3m in the Library Improvement Fund by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

But the bid was unsuccessful. Stockport Lib Dems who run the town hall said the cash would have been used to pay for upgrades at Reddish, Bredbury, Cheadle Hulme and Great Moor libraries.

It would have paid designers to create 'mini versions' of the children's library in Stockroom, as well as new story nooks, the Lib Dems said.

Stockroom opened last year as the town centre's brand new library and cultural hub.

Stockport council leader Mark Roberts said: "We are disappointed to learn Stockport has been rejected again by this Labour government for vital funding.

"This is made worse by them shutting out Stockport from the £600m recovery grant support for deprived areas, leaving out the borough with the most deprived area in the whole of Greater Manchester.

"It's difficult to think anything other than we've been unfairly treated yet again.

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"We have bold ambitions for our local area and Labour nationally have shown again that they just don't seem to care."

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport was approached for comment.

The Arts Council announced in April how the pot of £6.3m would be dished out.

It has been spread across the country, with £500,000 going to Suffolk County Council, and Northumberland Libraries getting more than £490,000, among other examples.

In a few weeks' time, voters across Stockport will go to the polls for the local elections on May 7.

Councillor Roberts added: "It is particularly difficult to swallow desperate election promises by Labour candidates when their government denies the funding we need for our libraries.

"We keep seeing Labour taking our community for granted, promising a lot but failing to invest.

"We need action, not words, we need consistent funding, not handouts and we need support, not spin."

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Stockport's opposition Labour group have hit back at the Lib Dems.

Councillor Christine Carrigan, leader of Stockport Labour group, said: "This feels like the Liberal Democrat administration yet again looking for someone else to blame.

"It's understandable to be disappointed, but pointing the finger at government doesn't change the underlying issues locally.

"The issues facing Stockport's libraries didn't start with this fund – they go back years under Lib Dem control, with services stretched and community provision chipped away.

"The Labour group is particularly worried about Reddish Library, which is falling to pieces under their watch.

"We secured the funding for Stockroom when we were last in administration, while the Liberal Democrat group was actively campaigning against it.

"Their record in Stockport shows a clear lack of support for our libraries and community spaces.

"Residents want to see a clear plan for improving services, not just lashing when things don't go our way."

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