Decision details

Medium Term Financial Strategy Consultation 2025/26 - 2028/29 Provisional Settlement Update (Adults & Health Committee)

Decision Maker: Adults and Health Committee

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Purpose:

All Committees were being asked to provide feedback in relation to their financial responsibilities as identified within the Constitution and linked to the budget alignment approved by the Finance Sub-Committee in March 2024. Responses to the consultation would be reported to the Corporate Policy Committee to support that Committee in making recommendations to Council on changes to the current financial strategy.

Decisions:

The Committee considered a report which detailed the proposals within the budget consultation relating to the Committee’s responsibilities, from Nicola Wood-Hill, Lead Finance Business Partner.

 

The Committee were updated that the figures within the report assumed a 4.99% Council Tax increase, with 2% ringfenced for Adults Social Care. There was currently no capital programmes detailed for Adult Social Care as the Service would not know the capital requirement until the Transformation Plan was further developed.

 

Members were updated that Cheshire East Council was responding to several national surveys which were asking for responses from local councils on the pressures which rises to the National Living Wage and National Insurance contributions were causing. Members were updated that if this led to an increase on commissioned care costs, this would be dealt with from a central contingency.

 

Members were informed that any grants awarded to Cheshire East Council from the government for historically not raising Council Tax were detailed in the appendices.

 

Members noted that decisions made by other Service Committees within the Council were at risk of undermining those decisions taken by this committee and asked that this was looked at by officers. Members queried whether there had been any increased in Council Tax Support payments, and whether there had been an impact on Adults Social Care as a result of Council Tax rises.

 

A named vote was proposed by Councillor Clowes and seconded by Councillor Moss with the following results:

 

FOR

 

Councillors Arthur Moran, John Place, Jill Rhodes, Judy Snowball, Dawn Clark and Ben Wye.

 

AGAINST

 

Councillors Sue Adams, Janet Clowes, Stewart Gardiner, Andrew Kolker and Liz Wardlaw.

 

NOT VOTING

 

Councillors Rob Moreton and Hannah Moss.

 

The motion was declared carried with 6 votes for, 5 votes against, and 2 not voting.

 

RESOLVED: (by majority)

 

That the Adults and Health Committee:

 

1.    Recommend to the Corporate Policy Committee, for their meeting on 6 February 2025, all proposals within Appendix A, as related to the Committee’s responsibilities, for inclusion on the Council’s budget for 2025/26.

 

2.    Identify any further budget change proposals, as related to the Committee’s responsibilities, that could assist Corporate Policy Committee in presenting an overall balanced budget to Council for 2025/26.

 

3.    Note the capital growth items listed in Appendix B and the revenue implications noted in paragraph 23. These will be reviewed by the Capital Review Programme Board in January before a final list is brought to Corporate Policy committee in February.

 

4.    Note the contents of Appendix C – Provisional Local Government Settlement 2025/26 (Finance Sub Committee).

 

5.      Note the contents of Appendix D – Council Tax benchmarking and scenarios (Finance Sub Committee) and consider what the impact of any requests for a change of Council Tax policy would be.

Report author: Tracy Baldwin

Publication date: 22/01/2025

Date of decision: 20/01/2025

Decided at meeting: 20/01/2025 - Adults and Health Committee

Effective from: 30/01/2025

Accompanying Documents: