Letter to Jim McMahon re Best Value Notice
19 May 2025
Cheshire East Council's response to Jim McMahon, Minister for Local Government, following receipt of a Best Value Notice:
Dear Jim
We are writing in response to your letter of 8 May regarding the issuing of a non-statutory best value notice for Cheshire East Council.
We thank you for acknowledging the many steps we are already taking to address the issues at Cheshire East Council, including our whole-organisation transformation plan, and our work with the Local Government Association (LGA) and the assurance panel we established in July 2024.
You recognise that we have engaged constructively with the department about the challenges we face, and we are committed to continuing and building on that engagement with you and your officials to provide the appropriate level of assurance about our progress.
The actions set out in the notice wholly align to our own improvement plans and we have already made significant progress against these.
The recent LGA Peer Challenge revisit report acknowledges that the council has delivered against key aspects of the recommendations from the peer challenge in February 2024, recognising that we know ourselves and the improvements we still need to make.
The LGA stated: “…it is clear that there is a significant appetite and energy for reform from senior political and managerial leaders in the organisation, and that this is linked to a wider ambition for improvement.”
Since the peer challenge, we have agreed and are delivering our transformation plan and have approved the Cheshire East Plan 2025-29 which clearly sets out the vision, commitments and outcomes we will deliver for Cheshire East.
We can now be confident that the council’s financial position has now stabilised, with a balanced budget for 2025-26 and four-year medium-term financial strategy. Continuing to deliver our transformation plan will contribute significantly to the council’s improving financial position, supported in the short-term by exceptional financial support.
We have made significant progress in building leadership capacity, capability and stability with permanent appointments to vacancies in our senior management structure, with interim capacity brought in to cover the remaining vacancies while permanent recruitment continues.
Ofsted has found that, within children’s services in Cheshire East, “pace of change has accelerated, and appropriate steps have been taken to improve the quality of social work practice”.
Our adult social care services have been rated as ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission. The CQC inspection found that people had access to local care and support services that were safe, effective, affordable, and high-quality to meet their needs, as well as recognising the dedication and hard work of staff in delivering person-centred care.
We know we still have more to do in all these areas, and we are already further accelerating this work. We must build on this momentum. Continuing to drive improvements, delivering what we have committed to, and supporting each other to deliver at the required pace is critical.
We look forward to sharing our progress over the coming months as we work together to deliver the best possible outcomes for residents, businesses and communities in Cheshire East. The Council is committed to securing long-term prosperity and sustainability for the Borough and its residents. The timely delivery of our growth and regeneration ambitions for Crewe is central to this mission.
We look forward to you and your officials visiting Cheshire East, so that we can show you our progress first hand, and visiting Crewe to learn about our ambitious development plans for the Crewe 360º hub, including investment in the rail station, and our ambition to work with the public and private sectors to build on the positive momentum of our Town Centre Regeneration Framework supported by your department through the Future High Street Fund and Towns Fund.Crewe already has transport links that rival most cities and its 360º hub station has the potential to transform regional and local economies.
This could provide access to better jobs, homes and skills and help deliver Crewe’s and the wider borough’s full potential, building on the world class manufacturing capability at Bentley Motors and the £1.2bn Healthy Futures campus at Leighton – the first of its kind in the UK.Unlocking the opportunity and potential for Crewe will rely on local and central government working in collaboration with industry stakeholders and the private sector to coordinate investment, collaborate on solutions, and drive efficiencies for the taxpayer.
This means working with the Government to secure an appropriate solution for HS2 north of Handsacre and at Crewe Station. We need to ensure that we don’t worsen north-south connectivity for the north, and that we are maximising the benefits of the remainder of HS2 to take full advantage Crewe’s unrivalled 360°connectivity.
This means securing capacity improvements and investments at Crewe station, which will not only bring it closer to the expectations of a major gateway hub but also exploit its role as a hub and spoke – linking HS2, the West Coast Main Line, and local and regional services. We believe that securing the right solution for Crewe, and for Crewe station, can only strengthen the business case for HS2 and boost the growth and regeneration opportunities for the north.
We will be outlining the potential at our roundtable event at UKREiiF and would welcome the opportunity to share these exciting plans with you.
We look forward to sharing our progress over the coming months as we work together to deliver the best possible outcomes for residents, businesses and communities in Cheshire East.
We would like to extend an invitation to you and your officials to visit Cheshire East, so that we can show you our progress first hand.
Yours sincerely
Councillor Nick Mannion: Leader of the Council
Councillor Michael Gorman: Deputy Leader of the Council
Rob Polkinghorne: Chief Executive