24/07/2026
“NO MORE HYPERBOLE, JUST THE FACTS”!
When the Leader of Cheshire East Council made an unscheduled statement on Wednesday [15.07.2026], I was somewhat surprised by its content.
The positivity with which Coun. Nick Mannion and his deputy (Coun. Gorman) greeted the letter from officials at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding the updated status of the Best Value Notice, issued in May 2025, was on the face of it, very welcome news.
Coun. Mannion told us that the Ministry was pleased with the progress to date, while Coun. Gorman announced with confidence that the notice would be lifted in November
Imagine my incredulity when I read the actual letter and saw how inaccurate these statements had been.
The Letter is available on the Council’s website so you can read it for yourselves.
Yes; the Ministry did recognise the work already completed, but it went on to express concern about several issues, including too many interims in the senior leadership team, a lack of evidence that the Council’s parlous finances have been stabilised and that there were continued signs of resistance to dealing with the culture of the Council.
The letter then lists NINE areas where ministers remain dissatisfied and will continue to monitor progress.
This, along with the phraseology of the letter, hardly engenders confidence that the Council is on the right track, let alone out of the woods!
Additionally Coun. Gorman’s assertion that the notice would be lifted in November was not evidenced in the letter.
In fact the letter suggests that unless the Ministry is assured that adequate progress has been made by the Autumn, it might consider this to be a failure to comply with the Best Value Notice, which could result in more significant intervention from Government.
I appreciate that Transformation is a process and that nothing will happen overnight, but dealing with the reality of the problems which the Council faces will not be helped by making misleading statements about how that progress is viewed by those who need to be convinced that real and sustainable change is afoot in Cheshire East.
Therefore if the transformation programme required by the Best Value Notice is to succeed, there needs to be acceptance that everyone involved recognises that without being honest about ourselves and our failings, we cannot hope to deliver the change that is required.
So please, no more hyperbole, just the cold, hard facts!”
Yours faithfully
Stewart Gardiner
Conservative group leader
Cheshire East Council”
