Councils across the UK will go bust this year, next year or the following year unless the government steps in to help, Cheshire East's leader has warned.

Council budgets were set based on the government's inflation target of two per cent but inflation is now at 10 per cent.

In Cheshire East, inflation and increasing care costs have led to a forecast outturn for this financial year (2022/23) of £11.6m more than was originally budgeted for.

Cllr Sam Corcoran (Lab) told the meeting of the full council: "To put that in context, our general reserve is £14m so you can see the level of pressure we're under.

Cllr Sam Corcoran

"I would say there are three sorts of councils at the moment – those that are going to go bust this year, those that are going bust next year and those that might survive to the year after, if the government doesn't do something to help councils."

He did not say which group he put Cheshire East in.

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Cllr Corcoran was responding to a question from Macclesfield councillor Laura Jeuda (Lab) who had asked: "What are the implications for this council of the expected massive cuts to public spending the government is set to announce at the end of the month?

"What, if anything, can the council do to try and mitigate the inevitable suffering this will cause to our most vulnerable residents?"

Cllr Corcoran told her: "There is ongoing work by all committees to look at how we are going to address those inflationary pressures and particularly the adult social care costs. This is at least partly due to the government's reforms, so we do need government help here. And we do need government help to address the inflationary pressures we're all facing."