Cheshire East Council has no plan in place to deal with its massive special needs budget deficit, just a seven-year proposal to bring spending back in line with grant income, a councillor said.
The Dedicated School Grant (DSG) overspend was reported to be about £112.1 million at the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
A panel set up last summer to look at the ‘extreme challenge’ of Cheshire East Council’s whopping £116 million special needs budget deficit has not met once, a councillor said.
Cash-strapped Cheshire East is overspent on its special needs and disability (SEND) budget because the cost of provision has outstripped government funding.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Cheshire East Council has reduced its special needs budget deficit by £10.1 million.
This means it was about £80m overspent in this area at the end of 2023/24 year instead of the predicted £90m.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Cheshire East Council’s ballooning special needs budget deficit is so serious it “threatens the very existence of the council”, a councillor said.
The DSG (dedicated school grant) deficit currently stands at about £90 million.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Cheshire East Council would have to increase council tax by 20% just to cover the deficit in its special needs budget, the council leader has said.
Cllr Sam Corcoran (Lab) has called on all councillors to look into the SEND provision (special educational needs and disabilities) so they can debate the issue at the next meeting of full council and come up with suggestions as to how the system can be improved.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Cheshire East Council has come under fire from residents for increasing council tax by the maximum permitted while cutting back on services at the same time.
The council is also introducing its highly unpopular green bin charge from January and consulting on hiking up parking charges.
Cheshire East Council is set to report financial pressures of £12.8 million against its 2023/24 budget, latest figures show.
But the authority says savings already identified have reduced this from an eye-watering £26.6m deficit.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Cheshire East Council’s current £46.9m deficit on its special educational needs budget is forecast to rise to a whopping £306.9m by 2028.
Councils across the UK are struggling with massive deficits in their dedicated schools grant budget because funding has not matched soaring demand and spiralling costs.
By Ethan Davies, local democracy reporter
The NHS body responsible for Cheshire’s Covid-19 vaccination programme is facing a deficit of £6.5 million.
NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) latest financial projections show higher expenditure in the organisation’s hospital discharge programme in the autumn means it is facing a black hole of £6.461 million by the end of March.
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