Council Tax rise to meet growing demand for care

Cheshire East Council has voted through a Council Tax increase to help meet the huge financial challenge it faces particularly in adult social care.

Adult Care Priority

Of the 4.99 per cent increase, three per cent will go directly towards caring for the elderly and vulnerable, where the council must fund a £97m adult care budget.

To add to the challenges ahead – and in order to balance its books – the council must also fill the void created by a reduction in government grant support between now and 2020.

The council has set a revenue budget of almost £264m to spend across its broad spectrum of frontline services. Those services will cost taxpayers around £3 per day, while the increase equates to £1.21 per week on the average Band D property.

In 2017/18 the average Cheshire East Council Tax will be in the order of £1,324 per year. This will still be lower than the national average of all unitary authorities.

The council's turnover is in excess of £700m and its net budget for 2017/18 stands at £263.8m. In addition to the 500 or so services provided to residents each day, Cheshire East has an ambitious capital investment programme of more than £500m over the next three years.

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