07/09/2026
Evening everyone.
Just home from Warrington Borough Councilโs Scrutiny Committee examining the next wave of proposed savings.
Whilst I am grateful to Council Officers and Cabinet members who gave in-depth and often very detailed reports to the committee and who faced some pretty strong challenges from the committee, I still have some serious concerns about what comes next and what it means for the people of Warrington.
We are talking about ยฃ๐๐.๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ of further proposed savings across the Council in this phase alone.
Savings have to be made. Pretending otherwise would be irresponsible but accepting that reality does not mean forgetting how Warrington got into this mess in the first place or the decisions over many years that contributed to the position we now find ourselves in.
The people of Warrington did not create this financial crisis, but they are increasingly the ones being asked to shoulder the burden of fixing it through higher Council Tax, reduced services and potentially being asked to do more themselves in their communities.
๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐ค ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐
๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ โ๐ฆ๐๐ฒโ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ญ๐๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐% ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐!
The meeting discussed further reductions affecting highways, street sweeping and w**d treatment, legal and enforcement capacity, customer services and much more.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐๐.
That includes leisure centres, libraries and community facilities, with different operating models and even asset transfers potentially being considered.
I challenged the increasing suggestion that parish councils, community groups or volunteers might have to fill some of the gaps.
Residents will still be paying their Borough Council Tax. Those living in parished areas already pay an additional parish precept. We cannot simply cut a service and assume communities have the money, volunteers or capacity to replace it.
And even with all these cuts to services we discussed tonight there is another part of this process you need to be clear about.
Of the ยฃ51.2m Phase Two programme, only around ยฃ4.7m of proposals have currently been identified for public consultation.
The rest will progress through Cabinet and delegated decision-making rather than each individual saving coming back to Full Council for a separate vote.
Considering the severity of these cuts that doesnโt quite sit right with me but time is another thing this whole financial crisis has stolen from us.
So proper scrutiny of what is passed at cabinet will be even more important.
All things considered there are things I would maybe do differently.
I would start with a very clear principle of protecting frontline, statutory and preventative services for as long as humanly possible.
Before taking even more away from residents, I want absolute focus on delivering the savings already promised, stripping unnecessary cost and duplication out of the organisation, maximising every available source of income and external funding, using technology where it genuinely improves services rather than simply making them harder to access, and demanding clear evidence that every proposed saving is actually deliverable.
Where a cut today risks costing the Council more tomorrow, we should have the courage to say so.
๐
๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ.
The proposals now move to Cabinet on Wednesday.
Some proposals will then proceed to public consultation before final decisions are taken, others are intended to progress through Cabinet and delegated decision-making.
There is one final point that I think everyone in Warrington needs to understand.
๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ยฃ๐๐.๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ญ!
It follows the ยฃ39m of Phase One savings already agreed, meaning the Council is now looking at more than ยฃ90m of savings across the first two phases alone.
Even after that, Warrington still faces further financial pressures in the years ahead.
That means there are likely to be ๐๐๐๐ difficult decisions to come.
The danger is that every individual cut can look manageable when viewed on its own.
It is when you put them all together, fewer services, fewer staff, greater reliance on communities, increasing charges and Council Tax pressures, that the true impact on residents becomes clear.
I will continue to fight to protect Burtonwood, Collins Green, Winwick and Hermitage Green from the impact of these proposals.
Savings have to be made, but there has to be a line between making the Council financially sustainable and hollowing out the services residents rely upon.
Finding where that line sits and fighting to make sure we do not cross it is exactly what I intend to keep doing.
You can read all the papers from tonightโs meeting at the link below.
If anyone has any questions or concerns about what these cuts might mean to them please drop me an email.
[email protected]
https://cmis.warrington.gov.uk/cmis5/MeetingsCalendar/tabid/73/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/410/Meeting/9349/Committee/1294/SelectedTab/Documents/Default.aspx
