Cheshire Independent Issue 197

FEBRUARY 2025 4 Positive direction: Council leader Nick Mannion CASH-STRAPPED Cheshire East Council has written to the government seeking permission to raise council tax by up to 9.9 per cent – without holding a referendum. As a local authority receiving exceptional financial support, Cheshire East can apply to the Ministry of Housing, Communi- ties and Local Government to raise the tax above the current maximum of 4.99 per cent. The xouncil has written to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Gov- ernment requesting permission to propose Town reveals its priorities Priorities: The survey will help the town council make its plans (Photo credit: Wilmslow Town Council) ROAD quality and potholes are the main concerns of people living in Wilmslow, according to the town’s first annual resi- dents’ survey. Carried out by the town council it also revealed that people are also con- cerned about parking and traffic, as well as the range of shops available. Asked which services and activities are important to them, public space maintenance came top, followed by funding of Wilmslow’s Citizens Advice service and the council’s com- munity grants. The survey, which will now help guide the council’s priorities for its next 12 months, was delivered to all homes in Wilmslow last September and made available online. A total of 667 were completed. Town mayor TimHiggins said: “We are pleased to be able to share the results from our first Residents’ Survey, and thank everybody who took the time to share their views with us. “We are now in the process of setting next year’s budget and the survey results are already helping to guide us in our priorities, such as on support and facilities for the youth which was viewed as very important by the majority of sur- vey respondents. “We hope that next year even more residents will complete the survey, so that our annual listen- ing exercise is representative of all Wilmslow residents.” The council was also given an aver- age rating of 6.4 out of ten for the job it does for the community. TAX HIKE PERMISSION BID the option of increasing council tax above the referendum limit set by government. In a statement the council revealed it had requested permission to propose the increase. It said: “This request does not commit the council to raising council tax. Any proposal to increase council tax would be subject to a decision of full council in February, as part of the budget-setting process.” An increase of five per cent would be equivalent to £1.72 per week for a band D property. The statement added: “It is important that we explore every option to improve financial sustainability and address under- funding and growth in demand. “As set out in a recent report to the coun- cil’s finance sub-committee, Cheshire East’s council tax is nearly two per cent lower, on average, than our nearest neighbour author- ities and our core spending power is nearly six per cent lower. “Historical decisions not to raise council tax to the referendum limit over a number of years have had a cumulative impact on our spending power today. “Whilst previous decisions have delivered savings for residents, had council tax been increased to the referendum limit each year, the council would have had £35million more this year to spend on essential services, sup- port more families and fix more potholes.” Council funding: Some improvement – but significant challenges remain CHESHIRE East Council has published its latest financial forecasting – showing outstanding fund- ing gaps of £18.3million for the current financial year and £25.3m for 2025-26. The local authority says that the figures for both years “show some improvement” over the previous forecasts. However, they still represent a “significant financial chal- lenge”, which may require use of exceptional financial support (EFS) from central government. By law, councils must approve a balanced budget each year and they cannot spend more than they have in their budgets. The third financial review report, which sets out the posi- tion for the current financial year, shows an improvement of £1.8m over the previous review in November. Cheshire East says that is the result of effi- ciency savings already achieved in-year and increased certainty about in-year funding and fore- cast service demands. The council is set to approve its budget for 2025/26 and a four-year medium-term finan- cial strategy at the meeting of full council on February 26. The forecast financial gap for 2025/26 has reduced from £31.4m to £25.3m. Nick Mannion, leader of the council, said: “When the cur- rent year’s budget was agreed in February 2024, we were forecasting a gap of £41.9m for next financial year. The latest forecasts show a reduced gap of £25.3m next year and a reduc- tion in the total gap over the next four years. “This is a positive direction of travel and reflects the hard work and dedication of officers and councillors in dealing with the financial challenge. How- ever, we must address the remaining pressures and uncertainties to eradicate the outstanding gaps for both the current year and the year ahead. “The provisional local gov- ernment financial settlement received from central govern- ment on 18 December, has provided more certainty and increased funding of £4.5m for 2025/26. This, with other changes to forecast income and spend, has the result of improv- ing the 2025/26 gap by a total of £6.1m. “However, the increase in funding for Cheshire East, outlined in the provisional set- tlement, is overall less than the average provided to other coun- cils in England. “While the pressures being experienced by this council are not unique, our circumstances are different to many other areas and we need funding to support local need.” He added: “Our most signifi- cant pressures are in social care services for adults and children, including those with special educational need and disabili- ties (Send). Cost and complexity of need for these services contin- ues to exceed available funding from government.” Deputy leader Michael Gor- man warned “hard decisions” would have to be made. He said: “The council’s ambitious trans- formation plan is set to deliver significant savings in future years. However, there remains a significant financial challenge.”