Six councils handed cash boost to help balance books

Six councils across north-west England have been granted exceptional financial support from the government to help them to balance their books.

Cheshire East, Halton, Sefton, Trafford, Warrington and Wirral have agreed support in principle with the government for the next financial year as the authorities prepare to set their budgets.

Exceptional financial support is not extra funding - but it allows councils to treat some day-to-day spending as longer term capital spending, which is usually funded through borrowing.

A total of 37 authorities across England have granted exceptional financial support for the 2026/27 year - up from 30 councils last year.

Warrington Council has received the highest level in the country - with £92m agreed in principle for 2026/27 - alongside £87.29m for 2025/26.

This is the full amount the authority had asked for for those financial years and it was also given permission for a 7.5% council tax rise in recent weeks.

Trafford Council was also allowed permission for a 7.5% council tax rise and has been allocated £12.65m in exceptional financial support.

This is the third year in a row where Cheshire East Council has been allocated. This time, it has agreed support worth £35m.

In the Liverpool City Region, Halton has been allocated £35m, Sefton £12m and Wirral £6m.

Halton, Trafford and Wirral were also all granted exceptional financial support last year.

In a written statement, local government minister Alison McGovern said: "Our approach will ensure that support is predicated on transforming services, so that councils in difficult situations move towards a sustainable recovery.

"The in-principle support agreed today is necessary to enable councils to get on with their budget processes, protecting services for residents in the context of the deep fragility left by the previous government. But I am clear that this sort of flexibility is designed to be temporary.

"We will continue to support these councils to transform their services to make them sustainable. As part of the exceptional financial support framework, we will ask these councils to develop robust plans for improving services, so they reach a stable position over the multi-year settlement."

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