Council Tax budgets and spending
Elected councillors agree a budget each year that shows how much money we will need for the services we will be providing, and where the money will come from. Council Tax has to make up the difference between the amount we receive from other sources and the total it costs us to provide our services. This difference is called the Council Tax requirement.
Council Tax bills also include charges from local town and parish councils (PDF, 587KB), Cheshire Constabulary, and Cheshire Fire Authority. Each of these organisations sets their own budget for the services they provide. Where a Town or Parish Council plans to raise more than £140,000 they must publish details of their gross expenditure.
Council Tax budget summary 2026-27
For 2026-27, the budgets to be met from Council Tax in the Cheshire East Council area are:
Council Tax budget summary
| Authority | 2026-27 | 2025-26 |
|---|
| |
£m |
£m |
| Cheshire East Council |
327.118 |
307.264 |
| Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire |
48.910 |
45.214 |
| Cheshire Fire Authority |
16.570 |
15.524 |
| Town and parish councils |
13.806 |
12.822 |
We have increased Council Tax by 4.99% for 2026-27.
There are three reasons for this year's increase:
- there is continuing growing demand for social care
- the costs of providing services continue to rise due to ongoing inflation levels
- Following the funding review of local authorities by central government, the expectation is that we continue to increase council tax at the maximum levels before holding a local referendum. This is assumed within in the headline funding increase announcements for Cheshire East Councils Core Spending Power (5.2%)
Business growth is helping to bring in more money from Business Rates, and the growth in house building should mean more Council Tax payers and higher Council Tax income. But it will still be a major challenge to raise the amount of money to cover what's needed.
Changes between the 2025-26 and 2026-27 budgets
We need to raise £20.8 million more from Council Tax including town and parish charges in 2026-27 than we did in 2025-26. This is due to continued inflation and higher demand for key services. For more detailed budget information please see the Cheshire East Budget Medium Term Financial Strategy 2026-2030
Changes between the 2025-26 and 2026-27 budgets
| Income or expenditure category | Change to Council Tax requirement between 2025-26 and 2026-27 |
|---|
| |
£m |
| Increased net growth in service demand and inflation pressures |
9.064 |
| Increase in service budgets due to grant representation (service grants now rolled into the funding envelope) |
20.703 |
| Increase in funding envelope due to fairer funding review and representation of grants |
-36.769 |
| Decrease in retained Business Rates |
5.721 |
| Increased town and parish council charges |
0.984 |
| Increase in central budgets |
23.313 |
| Increase in Exceptional Financial Support requirement |
-2.178 |
| Total |
20.838 |
How we spend our income
We split our services into service committee areas.
Spending by service committee area
Breakdown of income and expenditure by service committee area
Breakdown of income and expenditure by service committee area
| Area of spending | 2026-27 gross expenditure (amount of money needed) - A | 2026-27 service specific income (not from Council Tax or Business Rates) - B | 2026-27 net expenditure (amount needed after deducting service-specific income) - C | 2025-26 net expenditure (amount spent after deducting service-specific income) - C |
|---|
|
£m |
£m |
£m |
£m |
| Adults and Health Committee |
263.566 |
-93.417 |
170.149 |
167.607 |
| Children and Families Committee (Schools) |
234.827 |
-234.827 |
0.000 |
0.000 |
| Children and Families Committee (non Schools) |
120.177 |
-10.994 |
109.183 |
98.288 |
| Corporate Policy Committee |
103.278 |
-60.380 |
42.898 |
45.036 |
| Corporate Policy Committee - Council Wide Transformation Savings |
0.000 |
0.000 |
0.000 |
-13.452 |
| Economy and Growth Committee |
38.167 |
-9.765 |
28.402 |
29.187 |
| Environment and Communities Committee |
73.974 |
-24.361 |
49.613 |
44.044 |
| Highways and Transport Committee |
32.243 |
-15.130 |
17.113 |
16.881 |
| Finance Sub Committee (Central budgets, Reserves and Capital Financing) |
81.006 |
-17.648 |
63.358 |
40.045 |
| Exceptional Financial Support (D) |
0.000 |
-27.439 |
-27.439 |
-25.261 |
| Total - E |
947.238 |
-493.961 |
453.277 |
402.375 |
Notes
A - The gross expenditure columns shows what we plan to spend in 2026-27
B - Service-specific income includes income from:
- grants that can only be used for the particular service
- fees and charges for services
- other external contributions for the particular service
C - The net expenditure figure is the amount left after deducting the sum in the income column. This is the amount of money we need to cover from general income. General income comes from Council Tax, Business Rates and government grants.
D - Exceptional Financial Support - see Cheshire East Budget - Medium Term Financial Strategy for further information.
E - The totals line shows that after taking into account income we receive for specific spending areas, we still need to raise £453.277 million to cover the costs of services. This money has to come from general income - Council Tax, Business Rates and central government grants.
Sources of general income
Sources of general income
| Source of income | Amount 2026-27 | Amount 2025-26 |
|---|
|
£m |
£m |
| Business Rates retained |
51.400 |
57.122 |
| Revenue support grant (central government) |
56.810 |
0.849 |
| Specific grant (central government) |
17.948 |
37.140 |
| Cheshire East Borough Council Tax |
327.118 |
307.264 |
| Total general income |
453.277 |
402.375 |
Capital spending
Our ongoing programme of capital investment includes investment in assets such as roads, land and buildings, equipment and vehicles.
We often spread the costs and benefits of this investment over a number of years. In 2026-27, we plan to spend £156.163 million on capital investment. This spending will be funded by a combination of government grants, affordable borrowing, developer contributions and proceeds from the sale of assets.
Breakdown of income and expenditure by service committee area for capital spending
Breakdown of income and expenditure by service committee area
| Service committee area | Capital expenditure 2026-27 |
|---|
| |
£m |
| Adults and Health |
0.424 |
| Children and Families |
25.097 |
| Corporate Policy |
8.629 |
| Corporate Policy - Contingency |
3.619 |
| Economy and Growth |
38.680 |
| Environment and Communities |
15.791 |
| Highways and Transport |
74.443 |
| Total |
166.683 |
Detailed budget information
Our budget pages give full details of our budgets. On these budget pages, some areas of spending have the same name as the service portfolio but show a different figure from that given on this page. This is because on the budget pages we break the spending down into a wider number of service areas. To read the full budget breakdown, see Cheshire East budget.
Local Precepts over £140,000 2026-27
Town and parish councils who plan to raise more than £140,000 from local Council Taxpayers are required to provide details of their gross expenditure. Those town and parish councils affected are detailed below:
Local Precepts over £140,000 2026-27
| Town / Parish Council | Gross Expenditure | Income & Reserves | Precept |
|---|
|
£ |
£ |
£ |
| Alderley Edge Parish Council |
591,222 |
436,222 |
155,000 |
| Alsager Town Council |
939,956 |
252,052 |
687,904 |
| Bollington Town Council |
544,331 |
71,785 |
472,546 |
| Congleton Town Council |
2,355,797 |
769,887 |
1,585,910 |
| Crewe Town Council |
1,623,810 |
113,302 |
1,510,508 |
| Disley Parish Council |
273,615 |
52,251 |
221,364 |
| Handforth Town Council |
347,860 |
112,860 |
235,000 |
| Holmes Chapel Parish Council |
300,472 |
3,000 |
297,472 |
| Knutsford Town Council |
1,165,447 |
225,547 |
939,900 |
| Macclesfield Town Council |
3,501,050 |
2,081,500 |
1,419,550 |
| Middlewich Town Council |
633,700 |
-45,735 |
679,435 |
| Nantwich Town Council |
1,871,974 |
748,259 |
1,123,715 |
| Poynton with Worth Town Council |
774,250 |
76,500 |
697,750 |
| Prestbury Parish Council |
203,700 |
52,100 |
151,600 |
| Sandbach Town Council |
1,141,836 |
280,742 |
861,094 |
| Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council |
397,940 |
150,216 |
247,724 |
| Wilmslow Town Council |
1,270,244 |
565,030 |
705,214 |
Council Tax enquiry form
If you're unable to use our forms or have any questions about your bill you can call the Council Tax Customer Service Team on 0300 123 5013 between 8:30am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.
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Page last reviewed: 05 March 2026
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