Medium Term Financial Strategy 2023-24
Our budget has outlined a 4.99% council tax rise for 2023/24. Find out how every £1 of your council tax is spent on our council tax pages.
Cheshire East Council met on 22 February 2023 and agreed the Medium-Term Financial Strategy Report for 2023/24 to 2026/27.
The report provides detailed information on the issues facing the Council in the medium term and shows how these are being addressed to present a balanced financial position for the 2023/24 financial year.
The appendix to the report entitled the Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2023-27 (PDF, 4 MB) features:
- An Executive Summary
- The detailed Medium-Term Financial Strategy Report
Section 1 sets out the strategic overview for each of our Corporate Plan aims and more details of the actions each service area will be taking over the next four years to deliver these.
Section 2 of the report sets out how the Council’s expenditure will be funded from Government grants, Business Rates and Council Tax. This includes details of the 4.99% increase in Council Tax for 2023/24 (including 2% ring-fenced specifically for Adult Social Care).
The annexes to the report provide supporting information including line by line detail of the grants, policy changes and capital schemes that have been agreed as part of the Budget package. The latest Reserves Strategy, Investment Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy is also provided.
At the Council meeting, there was an amendment to the MTFS report that was proposed and carried as per the full minutes of the meeting.
- That Cheshire East Council, as the local highway authority, develops a Lane Rental Scheme and to prioritise its implementation, following approval by the Secretary of State.
- That this item is added to the Highways and Transport Committee work programme (2023/24) and the Highways Team are asked to identify associated, process, costs and benefits of a scheme for Cheshire East Council with the intent to introduce potential benefits in the MTFS from 1 April 2024.
- That the benefits of the scheme, (financial and operational) are evaluated annually, as required under the legislation.
Supporting information - HLBCs
- AH23-27 1 - Demand in Adult Social Care - unit cost inflation (PDF, 121KB)
- AH23-27 2 - Demand in Adult Social Care - complexity (PDF, 120KB)
- AH23-27 3 - Investment in Adult Social Care (PDF, 122KB)
- AH23-27 5 - Care Fee Uplifts in Adult Social Care (PDF, 127KB)
- AH23-27 6 - Direct Payments Personal Assistants Uplift (PDF, 117KB)
- AH23-27 8 - Home First Strategy - increased care at home capacity (PDF, 124KB)
- AH23-27 10 - Learning Disabilities Future Service Development and Review (PDF, 124KB)
- AH23-27 12(a) - Home First - Alternative Care Provision (Workforce Shared Lives) (PDF, 122KB)
- AH23-27 12(b) - Home First - Alternative Care Provision (PDF, 122KB)
- AH23-27 12(c) - Home First - Alternative Care Provision (Workforce PAs) (PDF, 122KB)
- AH23-27 14 - Resettlement Revenue Grants (PDF, 114KB)
- AH23-27 15 - Communities Team (PDF, 124KB)
- AH23-27 20 - Building Based Short Breaks (PDF, 120KB)
- AH23-27 22 - Building Based Day Services (PDF, 125KB)
- CF23-27 24 - School transport pressures (PDF, 126KB)
- CF23-27 26 - Growth in Children's Social Care (PDF, 118KB)
- CF23-27 35 - Integrated Children's Service Strategy (PDF, 119KB)
- CF23-27 40 - Early Help Redesign (PDF, 113KB)
- CF23-27 41 - Deliver the Family Hub model (PDF, 118KB)
- CO23-27 50 - Accelerate digital Transformation (PDF, 118KB)
- CO23-27 56 - IT Operational Efficiencies (PDF, 86KB)
- CO23-27 57 - Reduce cost of Democracy (PDF, 117KB)
- CO23-27 61 - Brighter Futures Together Programme Customer Experience (PDF, 113KB)
- CO23-27 62 - Across the board efficiencies, including procurement, income generation etc (PDF, 112KB)
- CO23-27 63 - Review of leadership and management including MARS (PDF, 77KB)
- PL23-27 64 - Assets - Buildings and Operational (PDF, 117KB)
- PL23-27 68 - Office Estate Rationalisation (PDF, 114KB)
- PL23-27 72 - Assets - Transactions (PDF, 112KB)
- PL23-27 75 96 107 - Restructuring Potential (PDF, 115KB)
- PL23-27 78 - Asset Service Transfer (PDF, 112KB)
- PL23-27 85 - Review of governance of Council Wholly Owned Companies (PDF, 117KB)
- PL23-27 90(A) - Strategic Leisure Review (PDF, 120KB)
- PL23-27 91(A) - Maintenance of Green Spaces (PDF, 122KB)
- PL23-27 92(A) - Review Waste Collection Service - Green (PDF, 127KB)
- PL23-27 93(A) - Libraries Service Review new (PDF, 135KB)
- PL23-27 98 - Maintenance of Green Spaces single provider (PDF, 72KB)
- PL23-27 101 - HWRCs Residency Checks (PDF, 116KB)
- PL23-27 104 - Highways (PDF, 122KB)
- PL23-27 105 - Energy saving measures from streetlights (PDF, 117KB)
- PL23-27 108 - Parking (PDF, 131KB)
Budget Consultation 2023
Cheshire East Council is inviting opinions and views from residents, businesses, councillors, staff, town and parish councils, local community groups and other stakeholders on the Council’s budget for the next financial year.
Inflation, including fuel and energy, is running at around ten per cent currently, compared to a national target of two per cent. Pay inflation is also significantly higher than forecasts, and interest rates have risen from 0.5 per cent in February 2022 to three per cent. In addition, like other councils across the country, Cheshire East Council is seeing increasing complexity of demand in services to support people who need additional help. More than 60 per cent of the Council’s net budget is spent on these services for adults and children.
The draft financial strategy includes a number of proposals to re-balance the Council’s budget in the face of these significantly increased costs and demand on services. This includes a 4.99 per cent council tax increase.
Other proposals affecting day-to-day services include changes to garden waste collection, maintenance of green spaces, parking charging, leisure provision, library opening times and proposals for how the Council, with its partners, can improve care for adults at home and services for children and young people.
The proposals show a balanced four-year budget to deliver the Council’s corporate plan priorities. It also outlines significant financial challenges that the Council must tackle over the next year.
Visit our budget engagement page to see more information and to have your say on our budget consultation.
The budget consultation runs until 30 January 2023.
You can view and download a copy of this year's budget engagement document below.
Further Information
The Council adopts a standard five measures approach to balancing the MTFS and each measure is explored in relation to the medium-term balancing of the MTFS . The measures are:
Measures and descriptions
| Measure | Description |
|---|
|
Measure One ~
Challenge
Financial Assumptions
|
Estimates related to Government funding and inflation in particular are checked against up to date indices and policies.
|
|
Measure Two ~
Review Local Taxation
|
Flexibility in Council Tax and business rates is explored in relation to emerging Government policy, demographic changes, local service ambitions and growth in the tax base.
|
|
Measure Three ~
Manage Reserves
|
The impact of the Council’s Reserves Strategy is analysed, particularly in relation to risk and investment.
|
|
Measure Four and Five ~
Manage Cost Drivers & Income
|
Options for future service delivery are challenged to ensure outcomes will be achieved in a cost effective and efficient way.
|
Our Five Measures to Balancing the MTFS (PDF, 173KB) document contains detailed information on how these measures have been addressed.
Page last reviewed: 06 February 2024
Thank you for your feedback.