It has been confirmed that Cheshire East Council will receive exceptional financial support of £25.3 million from central government, allowing them to set a balanced budget for the 2025-26 financial year.
Cheshire East Council published its latest financial forecasting in January 2024 – showing outstanding funding gaps of £18.3m for the current financial year and £25.3m for 2025-26.
The third financial review report showed an improvement of £1.8m over the previous review in November. The forecast financial gap for 2025/26 was reduced from £31.4m to £25.3m.
The leader of the Council, Cllr Nick Mannion, said,"There is no doubt that the Council remains in a very difficult financial situation. The statutory services the Council provide are under increasing pressure, in particular for adult social care and children's services.
"The financial support confirmed today will help the Council on its journey to financial stability. The Council has already begun its 3-year transformation plan which will result in future cost savings – but these savings can take time to materialise. The extra financial support will stabilise the Council's finances whilst it continues to embed different delivery models and initiates 'invest to save' projects. We know that the Council must change the way it delivers services, and difficult decisions will continue in order to balance the books.
"One thing is certain, and that is that the Labour-led administration, alongside their Independent colleagues will make those difficult decisions, and will do everything possible to avoid a section 114 notice, whilst protecting residents on low incomes. We remain ambitious for our communities and will focus relentlessly on securing the Council's finances, because we know that this is the key for delivering for our communities."
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No details on how it will be repaid though, because it's not charity, it's a loan.
The government themselves say: "Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) includes being given permission to use capital funds raised through borrowing, or the sale of assets such as land and buildings, to plug funding gaps in day-to-day revenue spending. While this approach can provide temporary financial relief, there is a risk that EFS could potentially load already struggling councils with further debt and costs in the future and/or undermine future capital programmes".
There you have it, buckle up for a rough ride.