Cheshire West cabinet hits back at Tory claims of 'waste'

Ratepayers across the borough will see their bills rise by 3.99 per cent in April – including two per cent ringfenced for adults’ social care.

The Tories – who had a budget amendment to increase tax by 2.99 per cent instead turned down at last month’s full council meeting – insist money is not being spent efficiently by the authority.

But Labour insists that ‘persistent underfunding’ of adults’ social care services by Government means the financial burden has fallen on Cheshire West residents – and the group claims the Conservatives should have considered increasing tax when they were last in office.

“This is public money,” said Cllr Neil Sullivan, the Conservative group’s shadow cabinet member for finance.

“The hard-earned tax of our residents and the levels of waste are eye-watering.

“Despite the year-on-year increase in budget, the Labour administration has failed to keep to its own budget for the last four years and has dipped into reserves each year to balance the books.”

CWAC’s budget has risen by £50 million a year since 2015-16, the first year that Labour took office, with the figure now standing at £322 million for 2020-21 – while council tax has also increased in each of those years.

Particular issues the Conservatives are highlighting include a £1.5 million annual loss at council-owned leisure firm Brio and yearly losses of close to £1 million on Chester’s park and ride – which has an average of seven passengers per bus.

The group has also highlighted spiralling costs of the delayed Best4Business IT project, which are now projected at £22 million – although this is a joint project with Cheshire East Council.

Cllr Margaret Parker, leader of CWAC’s Conservative opposition, promised to make sure the Labour administration delivers on the authority’s four-year ‘Play Your Part’ plan as it received unanimous backing at last month’s full council meeting.

She said: “We are disappointed that Labour’s financial stewardship, yet again, appears to be putting such positive plans for our borough at risk from the start.”

Cllr Sullivan insists ‘there has been no cut’ to the council’s budget, with the revenue support grant that was reduced by Government during austerity replaced with other sources of cash – including specific incentives, grants and a higher rate of locally-sourced income.

However, the Government is yet to confirm what funding it will provide to councils beyond 2020-21.

A report presented to full council last month point out that the authority is facing a funding gap of between £22 million and £31 million by April 2024 – while social care pressures continue to rise.

Meanwhile, some Conservative-run councils such as Shropshire and Stoke-on-Trent are also increasing council tax by 3.99 per cent, although others including Bolton and Newcastle-under-Lyme are raising their tax rates by smaller amounts.

Labour Cllr Carol Gahan, cabinet member for legal and finance, believes CWAC’s coffers would be in a stronger position had the last Conservative administration raised tax when in office.

She said: “Failure by the Conservatives to ensure that council tax was incrementally increased to cover rising costs and inflation, and the consequences of the loss of government funding during the period they were in office from 2012 to 2015, has resulted in the potential loss of an additional £15.7 million that would have been available to spend on this council’s services in 2020-21.

“In addition, persistent underfunding of adults’ social care by central government has meant that the burden has fallen on local taxpayers.

“Local authorities have been forced to raise an additional £14 million in Council Tax through the adults’ social care precept to pay for these services.”

On Brio, Cllr Gahan says that the council is now ‘reshaping the service’ to focus on its services that have the best impact on residents’ health and wellbeing – recognising ‘the pressures created by the changing leisure market’.

Cllr Karen Shore, CWAC’s Labour deputy leader, added: “The Labour administration has committed to building stronger communities and asking residents to play their part.

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“The Tories block voted against everything in the budget, including the Northgate development. They have nothing new to offer this borough, except the same old tired rhetoric.”