Proposals to save £100m over 3 years include nearly 4% increase in Council Tax

Cllr Peter Groves Cabinet member for finance and assets (1)

Cheshire East Council has today published a report which outlines its draft proposals for how the council can save £100m to balance the books over the next three years.

This is because Cheshire East, like most councils, is facing significant reductions in funding from central government whilst facing increasing demand from those who need support from our social care services.

The council proposes to meet this financial challenge through a mix of tax increases and changing its service offer. The overall aim is to make the council financially self-sufficient – by reducing its reliance on the central government revenue support grant which will decrease from £40m in 2015/16 to nil by 2020.

It is proposed to increase Council Tax by 3.99 per cent to invest with half of this rise going to adult social care. This follows last April's 3.75 per cent increase after five years of Council Tax freeze.

Councillor Peter Groves, cabinet member for finance and assets, said: "Cheshire East is a high-performing authority and a great place to live, work, do business and visit. Our residents enjoy good living standards and, when they need help from the Council, we are consistently recognised as providing excellent services.

"However, setting out our financial plans for the next three years is particularly challenging in the UK-wide context of big reductions in government grants to councils and rising demand for vital services such as social care."

He added: "The consultation document provides a strong set of initial proposals that balance the council's medium-term finances. It is also a real opportunity for interested parties to engage in the budget-setting process.

"Cheshire East puts its residents first. I value the opinions of local residents, businesses and organisations and I would encourage people to give their views via the consultation."

"New ideas that could help the council achieve its outcomes, are always welcome, so I would encourage people to respond to the consultation."

The public consultation on the pre-budget report for 2017 – 2020 will will run from Friday, 4th November to January 10th 2017. After which the responses will be analysed and considered before budget-setting decisions are taken by a meeting of full council in February 2017.

From tomorrow, Cheshire East invites feedback from residents, businesses, councillors, staff, town and parish councils and other stakeholders to inform decisions. This consultation will be an ongoing process over the next three years.

Click here to download the Cheshire East Council Pre-Budget Consultation and complete the online survey.

Photo: Councillor Peter Groves, cabinet member for finance and assets.

Tags:
Cheshire East Cabinet, Council Tax
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Alan Brough
Thursday 3rd November 2016 at 2:47 pm
It's grossly insulting that CE can even consider Council tax increases after the well-documented cases of failed outsource enterprises, huge pay-offs for outgoing senior managers and swingeing cuts in local services over the past few years.

"Cheshire East is a high performing Authority?" It's precisely that arrogance and inability to recognise or speak the truth that will motivate and mobilise local people against CE in the coming months.
Nick Jones
Thursday 3rd November 2016 at 5:20 pm
An absolute disgrace ! .... How insulting .. Just more unnecessary fiscal shenanigans when they should be merging both ends of the county... Have they ever returned accounts for their existing financial faux-pas ?? And we are expected to keep coughing up the cash... The words Party (similar) , arrange, and Brewery spring to mind !!
DELETED ACCOUNT
Thursday 3rd November 2016 at 6:23 pm
How is it that Cheshire East needs money, but can afford to lease/buy property in some towns? How is that Cheshire East can employ people on larger salaries than the Prime Minister? As to reduction in government funding, - it is staggering the amount of money which Cheshire East will have coming in from both the additional Council Tax from all the houses they propose and from the New Homes Bonus.

Remember that the Police/Fire can also increase their allocation of the Council tax - so what we will be looking at is a 5 - 7% increase overall. Factor in that most houses in the North of the Borough are not in their much quoted "Band D" and what you actually have is the Northern Towns losing their Green Belt for houses, and worse infrastructure, yet significantly higher Council Tax.
Peter Evans
Friday 4th November 2016 at 8:02 am
I completely agree with all that Alan, Nick and Jackie have said, you could not make this up. CE isn't in reality genuinely accountable (in the mode of "if you can't vote Trump, you get Hilary - oh, pooh") and fragrantly abuses this position with self interest (uncomprehensible salaries and redundancy terms), incompetence (Lyme Green...) and arrogance ("we provide an excellent service") Well... to be fair many of the worker bees are very good, considerate & caring - it's the exec management and some members where the incompetence and arrogance kicks in.
Mass council tax withholding? As we see here, we pay for the incompetence and would therefore also pay for anything we do to protest. Ballot box... If only :-(
Peter Evans
Friday 4th November 2016 at 8:03 am
Ps - if you look closely do you think Peter Groves is a body double for Phillip Green? Ummmm...
Terry Roeves
Friday 4th November 2016 at 1:36 pm
Sitting on acres of land, much bought speculatively, e.g. near Alderley Park.
CE should sell off more land and not look to its customers for more cash.
So Wilmslow continues in the role of a cash cow, unless there is some way that it can be stopped.
Manuel Golding
Friday 4th November 2016 at 5:16 pm
It will be more than interesting, in fact quite revealing, but not surprising to those who follow the sad story that is Cheshire East Council & its hangers-on, which of our councillors vote for this proposal.
Especially as some of them are or were involved in the Lyme Green fiasco, over paying the short on competence officers, pots of gold thrown at those departing the job early, failing arms length companies - all costing many millions of the very council tax payers money this incompetent authority will be making increased demands of.
The time for reckoning will be the next CE council election.
Remember the councillor's names folks, you'll need them at the ballot box.
Manuel Golding
Friday 4th November 2016 at 6:50 pm
If it were not so serious. we would fall over backwards at Cllr Groves utterance of ""Cheshire East puts its residents first." This strap-line, or should that be trap-line for any that maybe deluded into believing this meaningless nonsense, is displayed prominently within the Council's offices. Unfortunately for the council, no one believes a word of this propoganda, as we have bore witness to over the Local Plan.

The reality is that this council does not put its residents first

He says "I value the opinions of local residents, businesses and organisations and I would encourage people to give their views via the consultation." But, the harsh truth is that the apparatchiks have laid out their plans, the "consultation" will be, once more, a cold palliative for the council taxpayers, and voters, to swallow.

But remember, at the next CEC elections how your councillors voted on the budget issue.
Will they vote for their party line or for their electorate?
David Pearce
Saturday 5th November 2016 at 8:33 am
When failing to justify such a multiple of current inflation increase for C.T. how long before an E.C. spokesperson blames it all on BREXIT!!