Issue - meetings

To consider the recommendations from the Corporate Policy Committee.

To consider the report on the MTFS consultation 2026/27 and Council Tax Base 2026/27.

The Committee considered a report on the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) Consultation for 2026/27–2029/30 and the Council Tax Base for 2026/27.

Members noted that the Council continued to face significant financial challenges, with a forecast budget gap of £18.2m for 2026/27, reduced from £33.3m following recent refinements. The report outlined key assumptions, including growth allocations for Adult Social Care and Children’s Services, a 5% vacancy factor across staffing budgets, and above-inflation increases in fees and charges.

Members were advised that a programme of public consultation and engagement would run from November 2025 to January 2026, and that the Council Tax Base for 2026/27 had been calculated in accordance with statutory requirements.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

That the Corporate Policy Committee

1. Note the current budget position for the period 2026/27 to 2029/30 as set out in Table 1 of the report.

2. Note the list of Corporate Policy budget savings proposals that are contained in the budget consultation launched in November 2025 as contained in Annex 1 of the report.

3. Note the Council Tax Support scheme is agreed for 2026/27 as unchanged other than the increases in line with CPI as agreed in the last consultation.

 Corporate Policy Committee recommends to Council that:

4)    In accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 2012, the amount to be calculated by Cheshire East Council as its Council taxbase for the year 2026/27 as 165,549.87 for the whole area (Annex 2).