Share your views on all the budget proposals

Severence payments are popular with staff and leave rate payers funding early retirement for the privaliged few. Can we be given any assurances that giving this to another 180 people represents value for money?

1. As mental health is quite rightly one of the key council-wide priorities I am concerned that educational psychologists are being reviewed to share the costs of support with schools, at a time when their budgets are also under pressure and young people's mental health has suffered more than ever during the pandemic.
2. I would also urge you to try not to "reduce service standards e.g. in highways and street cleaning" as this is often a false economy.
3. Given the low cost of servicing debt and the unprecedented year could more borrowing be a way of saving some services?

Is the council considering the closure of Sutton Beeches community support centre, in Ellesmere Port, as part of its review of Supporting Adults: (1.7) Review of building-based care?

Previous budget consultations have highlight the importance of maintaining “Place-based services ” such as highways, streetscene and the environment. However, the “Potential Further Saving Required” section of this year’s CWaC budget paper only identifies one example area for reducing service standards, namely “highways and street cleaning”. Whilst we all understand the importance of protecting the most vulnerable via people-based services, such as children’s social care, child safeguarding, adult social care and homelessness; place-based services and the upkeep of public spaces are also very important to people.

The recently issued CWAC Parks and Greenspaces Strategy suggests that for every £1 spent on parks, it is estimated that £7 is generated in additional value for health, wellbeing and the environment, The report also indicates that lower socio-economic groups derive a disproportionately higher level of benefits from parks and green spaces. Disadvantaged groups also gain the most from safe and clean streets in our towns and citys.

Do officers agree that the maintenance of public spaces is a priority to be protected during budget reviews?

With the Council needing to meet its Climate Emergency targets isn't it time to allocate a fixed and meaningful proportion of its Road building and maintenance budget on Active Travel?

Could the council provide details on how they propose to utilise funding provided by the government to restart the high street that has to be used by Spring. Have the businesses of Chester been consulted as to what they need to best move on. Can you confirm that any subcontracted work will be assigned to Cheshire businesses to help with regeneration. Can the council provide a breakdown of money spent so far and a proposal for future spending

Looking at the income side of the budget, has sufficient sensitivity been introduced to allow for falling rent receipts from council owned property due to what might be described as a High St Emergency.
Does the budget delve deeply enough to identify to what extent these assets might present a cash flow deficit due to finance and operating costs including the portion of unretained business rates.
Similarly, with more business failures expected, to what extent will a threat to business rates income impact?

Looking at costs, I didn't fully appreciate the huge costs of adult and child care amounting to 31% of budget. The cost per case seems very high, can I take it that the components of these cost has been fully scrutinised, can more internal efficiencies be extracted?

Support Services are 23%, does this refer to the cost of running the council itself (rather than costs of services) and is it necessary for every council to have all these roles. Some offcers are highly paid, are we getting best VFM. Surely substantial savings could be achieved by sharing costs with say Cheshire East, Warrington, Halton?

Schools - why is the cost of transport to school set to increase - is there a charge to parents?

Many thanks