The scale of financial incompetence at Labour/Independent-run Cheshire East Council has been revealed by research published today into the Council’s High Needs Budget deficit for Children with Special Educational Needs (SEND), compared to its immediate neighbouring councils.
The research – completed by Cheshire East Conservatives and drawing on responses to Freedom of Information requests and searches of published council reports – reveals that Cheshire East Council has a higher SEND deficit than all eight of its neighbouring local authorities combined.
At the end of the 2022/23 financial year, Cheshire East had accumulated a deficit on its High Needs SEND budget of £46.9m, over £6.5m higher than the combined total deficit for Shropshire County Council, Staffordshire County Council, Derbyshire County Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, Manchester City Council, Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, Warrington Borough Council, and Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council. Cheshire East’s debt is more than three times higher than its highest neighbour, Staffordshire, which had a debt of just over £14m.
This difference comes despite the fact that the 2 to 18 year-old population of Cheshire East is around 75,000, compared to nearly 720,000 in its neighbouring authorities combined. Per head of child population, Cheshire East had racked up SEND debts of £622.23 per head, eleven times higher than the average for its neighbouring authorities of £56.40 per head and more than three times higher than its highest neighbour, Stockport, at £183.20.
Cllr Jos Saunders, the Conservative spokesperson for children and families, said:
“This information demonstrates the complete failure of CEC’s Labour-Independent administration to provide SEND provision, that not only meets the needs of our children but which is also provided locally.
Transport costs to out-of-area schools and their associated attendance fees, vastly increases cost.
But just as importantly, the social cost of long school days denies opportunities for our children to make local friends and participate wholly in family life”
Cllr Janet Clowes, Leader of the Conservative Opposition on Cheshire East Council, stated:
“We know that rising demand is an issue for all Local Authorities with SEND responsibilities, but these figures have identified an extraordinary level of debt that leaves CEC as a national outlier with no clear explanation as to why.
The latest 2023/24 final out-turn has revealed further cause for concern because despite a slight slowing of the growth of the deficit, the debt in 2023/24 rose a further 68%, from £46.9m (in 2022/23) to £78.6m.
This is clearly unsustainable. Alongside a Transformation Plan that must deliver a further £100m of savings in other service areas over the next 4 years, CEC’s Labour-led administration is still failing to
get to grips with managing the public purse.”
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Figure 1: SEND debts at 31st March 2023 for Cheshire East Council and neighbouring authorities.
Source: Final Outturn 2023/24: Children and Families Committee (3rd June 2024: Annexe 1, page 4)
https://moderngov.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ecminutes/documents/s117416/Appen…
al%20Outturn%20202324.pdf
Notes: Number of 2 to 18 year-olds is from the Office of National Statistics Mid-Year estimates for
2023
