BIG PICTURE
trying to save money by not having to pay to collect and bank the cash.
No consideration has been made to businesses or the elderly.
It could potentially be seen by some that this is a move to support out of town retail.
Sort it out, business is tough for many.
Richard Slater,
Owner,
Henbury Travel, Macclesfield
WHERE IS CASH BEING SPENT?
THE leader of Cheshire East Council Sam Corcoran is consistent on one thing, his inability to allow proper scrutiny of the financial challenges caused by Covid-19.
Two weeks ago the extra cost to the council was a £60 million now it is £70 million.
Where has the money been spent and where do we need more support? No one knows, Coun Corcoran just wants to lobby government for more funding.
To lobby effectively, there has to be evidence of where there is a shortfall of funds.
Cross party support was given at two scrutiny committees for a working group consisting of members of audit and governance and corporate scrutiny. Despite both chairmen of these committees (Liberal Democrat and Conservative) asking for a date for this meeting, none has been forthcoming.
We need to lobby quickly and we need to be agile, so why the dither and delay?
Is Coun Corcoran scared of what this working group may find out?
The one thing that you can be sure of is this, just holding out your hand for money will not get results. Councillor Jos Saunders Conservative member for Poynton East and Pott Shrigley
AS we enter a new stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, council funding is starting to become a top issue in national politics.
Councils of all different political colours across the country are close to bankruptcy: but at the start of lockdown the government pledged to pay all costs incurred by local authorities, declaring ‘the government will do whatever is necessary to support these efforts’. Frustratingly, they’ve now changed their mind.
A new Covid-19 report has declared that the pandemic is costing Cheshire East a whopping £70m (mostly through extra costs but also from the loss of income in certain sectors), but so far the government has only covered £19.7m, and has now announced it won’t cover the full costs as they first promised.
Councils will now only get 75 per cent.
The government no longer provides a single penny to the council in revenue support grant.
And with Cheshire East managing a balanced budget in February, the government will now force it to make cuts of up to £17.5m from frontline services like social care or road maintenance.
After a decade of budget squeezing, this is unacceptable, and puts our communities at risk from further devastating cuts.
The government must u-turn on its u-turn, break its promise to break its promise.
They cannot push the costs of this crisis onto services that are struggling to cope and communities that need their support.
I hope our MP David Rutley is lobbying his government to fulfil their original promise and not leave our local community to bear the financial brunt of this crisis.