Latest news with #CheshireEast
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Cheshire and Warrington: Early 2026 for new combined authority
A combined authority for Cheshire and Warrington is set to be created early next year, ahead of the area's first mayoral elections in the from Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East and Warrington councils were told the new authority will be created in the first two months of were also told more detail would be revealed next month about what powers will be devolved in a report setting out guidance received from the new combined authority is set to be in place for its first mayoral election on 7 May 2026. The update was given at a meeting of a joint committee of councillors and public servants from each of the three local authorities in the county of the new authority, each council would remain separate local authorities but would work together on areas including transport, skills, housing, the environment and creation was given the green light after the county was included in the government's devolution priority programme (DPP) in February. 'Significant' Funding to set up devolution in the area would mostly come from a government grant of £1m, the meeting committee is also waiting for a government response to a formal consultation on the creation of the new authority, which closed last East Council leader Nick Mannion said the government was expected to make a further announcement next month "as to whether Cheshire and Warrington have met the government's statutory tests to move forward for devolution"."This will be a trigger for a significant amount of detail to flow to us from the government in Whitehall," he told the committee.A total of £1m in funding would be provided through a mayoral capacity grant, which would be confirmed after government approval is granted.A further £250,000 has been made available from Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington, made up of business rates retained by the economic development organisation, and the Local Government Association has also provided a £25,000 grant to support devolution cost of running a mayoral election would be reimbursed by the future combined authority, it has been Price, the police and crime commissioner for Cheshire, told the meeting he welcomed the government funding."I know a lot of members of the public out there are nervous about council finances and what the cost is, but the department has funded this, alongside that grant from the Local Government Association."Ultimately, that's a form of endorsement that we're doing something the government is keen for us to pursue and they're putting their hand in their pocket to help make it happen." Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Cheshire East Council: Rising adult care costs behind overspend
Soaring demand for adult social care has played a large part in Cheshire East Council (CEC) overspending its budget, the local authority has government has stepped in to grant the council £17.6m in exceptional financial support (EFS) for said it would use the funding arrangement to balance its books for the financial the largest overspend has been in adult social care, the council also said there were pressures in children's services and rising borrowing costs associated with funding pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). EFS allows councils to use a system known as capitalisation, which can allow them to borrow money or treat some day-to-day spending - known as revenue costs - as longer-term capital such, it essentially gives local authorities more flexibility about budget has faced financial difficulties in recent years, with the government recently issuing a formal notification of its year, the council signed off a transformation plan which aimed to save nearly £100m. 'Rising borrowing costs' In a report to councillors, CEC said the £17.6m adult social care overspend was down to rising costs of individual placements.A £3.5m overspend in children's services was attributed to there being more youngsters in care, the use of agency staff, and rising home-to-school transport council said it had come in under budget in a number of areas, chiefly in staffing while there had been an underspend in its highways and transport department, car parking revenues had been lower than services for SEND children are funded through a Dedicated Schools Grant, Cheshire East currently has a deficit in this area, meaning that the borrowing costs to provide them have been forced approved by councillors at a meeting on 3 June, £9.8m of the £17.6m EFS money will be allocated towards meeting the 2024-25 is proposed that £5.3m will be put in an earmarked reserve to cover the costs of CEC's current change programme, while the remaining £2.5m will go into the council's general this year it was announced that CEC was granted £25.3m in EFS for the 2025-26 financial year. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Enough is enough' says MP of Cheshire road shut since January
The continued closure of a road linking two major towns is having a "massive impact" on life in a Cheshire village, according to residents and business B5470 between Macclesfield and Whaley Bridge in neighbouring Derbyshire had to shut in January after part of the carriageway collapsed following heavy footfall at the Swan Inn has resulted in its licensee reconsidering his investment plans for the pub in East Council said it understood the "frustrating" situation and was "prioritising the reopening" of the road as soon as possible. During his 19 years as licensee, Robert Cloughley said he had invested in the 18th Century pub by adding a new kitchen and Cloughley said the inn had suffered significantly this year as a result of the road closure."I don't think anybody realises how busy a road it is, and what a thoroughfare it is," he said."Something needs doing because it's impacting us an awful lot, along with businesses on both sides of the works."Mr Cloughley said it had really made him think about the financial aspects of his business."The challenges are there, obviously with the [recent rises in] national insurance, minimum wage [and] business rates," he said."Those are three elements that have gone up massively in the last two months, and obviously we've now got a downturn in trade because of these road closures [which] I find unreasonable and unacceptable."It makes us think about employing new people, trimming hours back to try and restrain costs."We've invested a lot in the business and we have got thoughts about doing other things, but we just can't do it anymore because the cash flow is not there." Opposite the pub is David G Ross Nurseries. The business has been here for 60 years and is now occupies a four-and-a-half acre (1.8 hectare) site."It's having a massive impact on us, in terms of our customers getting to us and to actually get our deliveries here," said operations manager Sue said some drivers were "just not attempting to come to us" and complained that diversion signs erected around the road closure were "inadequate"."At Whaley Bridge where the road starts, it just says 'road ahead closed', said Ms Jeffrey."It doesn't say that local businesses are not affected, so it's very frustrating for us as customers will see the 'road ahead closed' sign and not even bother to come to us."She said the road closure was also causing issues for staff who have to take their children to school in from the councol had been "zero", added Ms Jeffrey. People living in the village also said they were worried about the ongoing road worker Neelanga Uggalle, who lives in Kettleshulme, said he travels to his company's office, near Knutsford, two days a contacted BBC North West to voice his concerns about the lengthy road Uggalle said he now avoided going into Macclesfield at weekends because he believes the diversion - a single track in many places - is simply not safe."A lot of people I've noticed are not familiar with how to deal with it," he said."You just have oncoming traffic without slowing down, even though there is a passing place they could've used," he explained."Occasionally you have an HGV going through even though there is a clear sign on both ends saying it's not suitable."I think they thought 'Maybe because it's a B road - nobody's using it'."While villages like this have a smaller number of people this [road] is actually used to connect two major towns. Because of that there's a lot of traffic." Macclesfield MP Tim Roca raised the issue in Parliament and said the disruption to residents was "profound".The Labour MP said a governor from a local primary school had told him the closure had caused major issues, with it being forced to cancel swimming lessons due to the longer round trip to the pool."The impact of the closure is widespread," said Roca, highlighting issues including the impact on the road being used as a diversion, extra carbon emissions from queueing traffic, and lost school and family time for raising the issue, he said he was "grateful for the new sense of urgency" from the council's highways Pearce, Labour MP for the neighbouring High Peak constituency, said the road closure was "a nightmare" for many residents."Enough is enough," he said. "Cheshire East Council need to resolve this as we've been waiting for too long."Future of Roads Minister Lillian Greenwood said she understood it was a difficult situation and urged more communication from the council."It is so important that local people understand the work that is being undertaken," she said."Sometimes things do take longer than expected, but [Cheshire East Council needs] to explain to local people what they are doing and how they will expedite these repairs." Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East's highways and transport committee, said: "Our teams have been working hard to get this road reopened following the large landslip. Unfortunately, we cannot simply repair the road."We have had to conduct extensive ecology and drainage surveys to understand how to create a secure platform for the new road to sit on."Other technical investigations will also take place over the coming weeks, which will then allow us to design the engineering solution needed to reinstate the road."Once we finalise this, we will then give the timescales for rebuilding and reopening the road." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Free Sunday car parking to end in Cheshire East
Sunday parking charges in parts of Cheshire will come into force this month, five months after full-time free parking ended in several East Council is extending the charging period by four hours on weekdays and Saturdays and also bringing in charges on Sundays from 26 follows the authority bringing in fees in towns and villages which had historically had free East Council said it had "little option" but to look at ways to increase its income as it faced financial challenges. Users of council-owned car parks across the borough will have to pay between 08:00 and 22:00 during the week and on parking charges will also come into force based on the weekday charges for each car parks in areas such as Alsager, Audlem, Handforth, Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Poynton, Prestbury and Sandbach had previously had free parking until charges came into force in car park in each town and village has free parking after 15:00 and on-street parking bays remain free, the council took place in some areas ahead of the charges coming in, including outside council one area, Bollington, the town council agreed to pay Cheshire East to keep the car park free for users. Cheshire East said any surplus funds from parking charges would be used in other highways and transport services, such as road maintenance and towards evening and Sunday bus Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council's highways and transport committee, said: "When benchmarked against neighbouring councils, it is clear that our current parking charges are significantly lower."Nor do they reflect inflation as this is also only the second time parking charges have been increased since Cheshire East was formed in 2009."Coupled with the council's financial challenges, we have little option but to look at how we maximise our income and ensure that the charges we collect are sufficient to help cover the rising costs of maintaining, managing, and enforcing our car parks." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Households can apply for free cost of living vouchers worth up to £140
CASH-STRAPPED households in Cheshire East can now get their hands on free cost of living vouchers and cash worth up to £140 to help with the cost of living. The help is part of the latest round of the Household Support Fund (HSF) – which has been extended and runs from April 2025 to March 2026. 1 The scheme is designed to help financially vulnerable families and individuals struggling to pay for basics like food, energy and everyday essentials. But unlike other councils, you can't apply for the help yourself – a trusted professional must do it for you. That could be someone from your school, GP, housing support team or a local charity. They'll talk through your situation and, if eligible, send off a referral. If approved, you could bag: £60 in supermarket vouchers for a single person £100 in vouchers for couples Up to £140 for families – with £20 extra per child £100 in cash for energy bills, paid through the Post Office Vouchers will be emailed within five working days of the referral and can be spent in supermarkets via codes sent by Hawk Select. Cash payments come through Post Office Payout and will need to be accessed digitally. You'll need to have access to a smartphone or printer to redeem the codes – so make sure your professional has the right email address for you, or delays could happen. On top of this, Cheshire East is also offering help with household essentials like white goods, beds and refurbished furniture, depending on availability. There's also a separate fuel support scheme for pensioners, with more details coming soon. Five key changes to PIP & Universal Credit as Labour's benefits crackdown unveiled Meanwhile, those in need of exceptional cost support – such as people dealing with major hardship or debt – can be referred to a decision-making panel which awards extra help on a case-by-case basis. To find out more or to speak to someone about a referral, chat to any professional who supports you – whether in education, health, housing or the voluntary sector. They'll be able to advise if you qualify and submit the referral on your behalf. You can also ask your trusted professional to contact the HSF team directly by emailing: HSFFamily@ Not in Cheshire East? Don't panic – the £742million HSF has been shared across every council in England. That means you may be able to claim free cash, supermarket vouchers or energy support from your local authority. Check your council's website for updates as more HSF schemes open up. Recently, households in Redcar & Cleveland have also been urged to apply for support worth £230. Whilst, those living in Worcestershire could be entitled to get up to £500 in cost of living help through the fund. Other help you can claim If you're not eligible for the Household Support Fund, you might qualify for other forms of help to cover energy bills or food. Support may vary depending on your local council – so even if you don't live in Cheshire East, it's worth checking what's on offer in your area. Several energy firms offer grants to households who are struggling to pay their energy bills worth up to £2,000. This includes British Gas, Octopus Energy and EDF. New parents might also be eligible for free food worth up to £442 a year to cover the cost of healthy food and milk via the Healthy Start scheme. Or, you can get an emergency food parcel from a Trussell Trust food bank. You can find your nearest via To get a food parcel, you need a voucher from a community organisation like Citizens Advice or your GP. You can then exchange this voucher for a food parcel at the food bank. It's also worth checking if you're eligible for benefits if you haven't already - billions of pounds' worth is going unclaimed, according to Policy in Practice. Are you missing out on benefits? YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to Charity Turn2Us' benefits calculator works out what you could get. Entitledto's free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit. and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto's data. You can use Policy in Practice's calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you'll have left over each month after paying for housing costs. Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
