Council tax up by 4.9%

Cheshire East council tax payers will see an increase of 4.99% in their 2024/25 tax bill.

The council plans to mothball Bollington and Poynton refuse tips, adding that they may re-open at a future date. A final decision is expected in September once a review of household waste recycling centres has been completed.

Council leader Sam Corcoran (Lab) said: “No council leader wants to put up council tax particularly during a cost of living crisis when people are struggling with increasing prices and high interest rates, but those factors affect councils too.”

Deputy leader Craig Browne (Alderley Edge, Ind) said all councils were under huge financial pressure and ‘the frustrating thing is it doesn’t need to be like this’.

He told the meeting: “We raise more than £150m a year in business rates collected from hard-working, well performing local businesses.

“However, as a council, we only get to keep £50m of this, with the other £100m going into the government’s coffers.

“£100m would easily cover the projected growth in demand for and increased costs of delivering council services over the course of the next 12 months.”

The Conservative group voted against the budget.

She said “responsibility for how the public purse is spent in Cheshire East rests in this chamber’” . . .  “measures outlined in the budget are meaningless’ if not delivered.”