ANY future devolution deal ‘must be right’ for Cheshire and Warrington.

A report providing an update on the potential for a ‘county deal’ for Cheshire and Warrington will come before the supporting the local economy policy committee at its meeting next Wednesday.

Warrington Borough Council’s Labour group voted for the town to team up with Cheshire West and Chester Council and Cheshire East Council in a devolution deal – instead of the Liverpool City Region – in January 2017.

Discussions with the Government over a potential devolution deal for Warrington and Cheshire have taken place, but there is yet to be an agreement.

It has previously been reported that, if arrangements are thrashed out, the move would see the Government delegate major powers to the three authorities – and it could deliver funds of at least £30 million a year for a decade, although it may have the potential to secure this amount of cash for close to 25 years.

The report says devolution is fundamentally about the ‘transferring of power’ from central Government to local or regional administrations – and that the objective is to provide ‘greater freedoms and flexibilities at a local level’, which should allow Councils to work ‘more effectively’ in improving public services for their areas.

It also states that the powers devolved vary across the different devolution deals, with ‘the most expansive powers on offer only to places that adopt mayoral leadership’ – and that each devolution deal is negotiated separately between ministers and local leaders.

It adds: “Combined authorities are corporate bodies formed of two or more council areas, established with or without an elected mayor.

“In Warrington’s case this would include Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East local authorities.

“The combined authority enables groups of two or more councils to take decisions across boundaries on issues which extend beyond the interests of any one individual local authority.

“They are a legal body set up using secondary legislation (Combined Authority Orders) but are locally owned and must be initiated by the councils involved.

“Any devolution deal must be right for Cheshire and Warrington. It needs to not only accurately reflect the economic geography but the specific characteristics of its economy.

“Cheshire and Warrington is a hotbed of science, technology and manufacturing innovation.

“There are large-scale economic growth opportunities through new strategic infrastructure, such as Hynet and Northern Powerhouse Rail along with brownfield land that, with targeted remediation funding, could provide tens of thousands of homes.

“To date the Government, whilst engaging with Cheshire and Warrington, have offered a somewhat ‘fixed menu’ approach, which inevitably does not enable Cheshire and Warrington to achieve its full economic and environmental potential.

“Throughout 2024 the council, working with Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester councils, will continue to engage with UK Government officials on a deal that is right for Warrington and the subregion.

“Mindful of the potential for a General Election in 2024, both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party have set out their intentions to go further still with devolution in a future Parliament.”

The committee is recommended to note the contents of this report.

Two councils in Cheshire say they are expecting to spill over their budgets this year, particularly due to rising costs of children's social care.

Warrington Council said it was facing a £12.6m overspend in a report to councillors.

And Cheshire West and Chester Council is set to be £10.8m over budget.

Both authorities have cited cost pressures from children's social care and say they are working to find savings.

The likely overspends were revealed as the two councils published their first quarter financial forecasts.

It comes after Birmingham City Council effectively declared itself bankrupt earlier this week, while a BBC investigation found black holes in council budgets are continuing to rise.

Warrington Council said it was "increasingly difficult" to achieve a balanced budget, with children's services costs expected to be about 29% over budget.

Warrington Council said the pandemic, cost of living and inflation had led to an increase in the cost of running services along with an increase in the number of children living in poverty.

Sarah Hall, cabinet member for children's services, said: "There are not enough placements [for children] of the right kind, in the right places, and affordability of suitable placements has increased significantly."

She added that the council was also expecting to spend £2.3m on care leavers who need to remain in their current placements because of a lack of other housing options.

Reviews of overspending are currently taking place.

Possible options include bringing forward savings planned for next year, looking at further sales of assets and increasing discretionary fees and charges.

Neighbouring Cheshire West and Chester Council said its children's services are set to have a £12.4m overspend.

It said the number of children in care has increased "significantly" since its budget was set, from 565 to 594.

It added there has also been more high-cost residential placements, with 15 placements currently costing more than £10,000 per week.

The council said it was going to bring in a range of savings measures, including delaying filling vacancies, reviewing agency and consultancy spending, and reviewing discretionary services.

Council leader Louise Gittins said: "This serious challenge is being faced by every council in the country. Recent headlines show that many councils are struggling to meet these needs within the finances they have available, and all are having to make difficult decisions."

A WOMAN has captured what she thinks was a 'big cat' on camera in the Cheshire countryside – in what experts have hailed an 'incredible' sighting.

Becky Clarke spotted the mystery beast prowling through a field while out for a walk recently.

The video, recorded on Becky's iPhone has been hailed as "incredible" by some experts.

Despite capturing some of the clearest evidence to date of big cats’ existence in the wild of the UK, Becky said they almost missed their opportunity to record their sighting.

She added: "We watched it for about 20 seconds on zoom before I realised I hadn't pressed record.

"There has been so much disruption in our area with thousands of houses going up over the last five to six years, and now motorway works cutting through green space.

"It was only in the last few years I was lucky enough to see the deer, and now the cat.

"I suspect their areas have been disrupted so much they have had to move. We are hopeful to see it again."

The sighting was made on a recent Saturday afternoon on the outskirts of a town in Cheshire, although its exact location is being kept secret to avoid hunters.

Matt Everett, director of recent hit Amazon documentary Panthera Britannia Declassified, said: "It is pretty good evidence. Even without scaling you can tell it is a large cat.

"The birds seemed to get spoiled as if there was a predator nearby too. It is all consistent with what you would expect."

Tim Whittard, co-producer of Panthera Britannia Declassified, added: "I think it is an incredible sighting.

"We have seen a significant surge in eye-witness reports, as well as people coming forward with new photographic and video evidence since the release of the documentary.

"I think it has really changed the attitude of Joe Public towards this subject, and it is no longer a matter of ridicule for eyewitnesses.

"Things like the leopard DNA being found in the Stroud Valleys in 2022, as well as being able to piece together so much of the history around how these big cats came to be roaming freely in the British countryside in the first place, appears to have given more people the confidence to come forward."

CHESHIRE’S most and least affordable places to live have been revealed.

A study by property loan experts Buzz Capital has ranked the county’s towns by affordability.

Taking into account property prices and average salaries, the study has named Knutsford as the least affordable place to live.

The Cheshire East town has an average salary of £40,600 while the average house price over the last year was £618,694.

As such, the average salary equates to just 6.6 per cent of the average house price.

At the other end of the scale, Runcorn is the most affordable place in Cheshire with a higher average salary than Knutsford of £41,700.

Meanwhile, house prices are significantly cheaper with an average of £178,609.

Therefore the average salary equates to nearly a quarter of the average house price - 23.3 per cent.

Most affordable towns in Cheshire

1. Runcorn, Halton: Average salary: £41,700, average house price over the last year: £178,609, average salary equates to 23.3 per cent of average house price

2. Widnes, Halton: Average salary: £41,700, average house price over the last year: £195,053, average salary equates to 21.4 per cent of average house price

3. Crewe, Cheshire East: Average salary: £40,600, average house price over the last year: £197,551, average salary equates to 20.6 per cent of average house price

4. Ellesmere Port, Cheshire West and Chester: Average salary: £38,000, average house price over the last year: £198,761, average salary equates to 19.1 per cent of average house price

5. Winsford, Cheshire West and Chester: Average salary: £38,000, average house price over the last year: £205,553, average salary equates to 18.5 per cent of average house price

Least affordable towns in Cheshire

1. Knutsford, Cheshire East: Average salary: £40,600, average house price over the last year: £618,694, average salary equates to 6.6 per cent of average house price

2. Wilmslow, Cheshire East: Average salary: £40,600, average house price over the last year: £520,953, average salary equates to 7.8 per cent of average house price

3. Poynton, Cheshire East: Average salary: £40,600, average house price over the last year: £479,294, average salary equates to 8.5 per cent of average house price

4. Neston, Cheshire West and Chester: Average salary: £38,000, average house price over the last year: £351,394, average salary equates to 10.8 per cent of average house price

5. Frodsham, Cheshire West and Chester: Average salary: £38,000, average house price over the last year: £308,506, average salary equates to 12.3 per cent of average house price

Warrington is set to benefit from almost £9.4 million in 'Levelling Up' funding from central Government. The provisional funding, announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his Autumn Statement yesterday, is to be invested in "traffic-free" routes between settlements in the north of the town and central Warrington.

The project, dubbed ‘Reconnecting the settlements of Warrington North', will see three new 'active travel' routes built between Burtonwood, Winwick and Culcheth and urban Warrington. The council submitted the bid to the Government's Levelling Up Fund in August 2022, but it was not selected as part of the £4.8 billion scheme.

Instead, subject to final checks by the Government, the money will come out of another £50 million fund to support regeneration projects Bolsover, the Isles of Scilly, North Norfolk, Eden and Monmouthshire. In addition to the new 'active travel' routes, the plan, as initially submitted, includes the redevelopment of the derelict pavilion at Burtonwood Recreation Ground for community activities and an extension of Burtonwood Community Centre.

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Local Labour MP Charlotte Nichols shared a letter from Minister for Levelling Up Jacob Young, confirming £9,356,342 for the project. In the letter, Mr Young says: "I am very keen, as I am sure you are too, to get delivery and spend underway quickly. Due to the time that has passed since the application was submitted, we will require a short project validation check to ensure the bid will still benefit from government funding and remains a local priority.

"We will also ask your local council to confirm that the bid has not changed significantly, is still deliverable by March 2026, and still represents value for money," said Mr Young, adding that "the money cannot be used to support activity that is substantially different."

Charlotte Nichols MP said she was "Still digesting the full impact of today's Autumn Statement announcements and the economic impact assessments from the OBR and others." In a statement posted to social media, she said: "Delighted however that, in amongst the other announcements, was the provisional award of up to £9.4m for the ' Warrington North - connecting the settlements' levelling up bid, and to have been recognised by the Chancellor as being a "particularly effective local MP" in championing the project in his statement to Parliament.

"I will be engaging with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Warrington Borough Council in trying to secure the successful delivery of the scheme as soon as possible."