THE FOLLOWING NOTICE OF MOTION HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING OF FULL COUNCIL NEXT WEEK, REQUESTING A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE IN THE LEADER AND DEPUTY LEADER OF CHESHIRE EAST COUNCIL.
Read the full document below:
COUNCIL – 25 FEBRUARY 2026
NOTICES OF MOTION
Submitted to Council in Accordance with the Council Procedural Rules
Vote to remove the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council from office – To be considered by Full Council on 25th February 2026.
Proposed by Councillor S Gardiner Seconded by Councillor Michael Beanland
Motion to be debated
This Council no longer has confidence in the Leader (Cllr Mannion) or the Deputy Leader (Cllr Gorman) to undertake their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the Nolan Principles and in the interest of the residents of Cheshire East, therefore, we call upon Council to remove the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council from office, in accordance with the provisions set out in the Council’s Constitution (see Section 3(d) of the Role of the Leader and the Deputy Leader).
Introduction
While we consider that there has been an inherent lack of political leadership
over many months causing several areas of concern, for the purposes of this Notice of Motion, we have based our assertion upon three specific issues.
• Sending a Letter in support of the concept of New Towns to the New Towns Task Force
• Failing to deliver the Transformation required by the Peer Review in a timely manner
• Letting the Council’s Finances deteriorate so budgets are only balanced by borrowing
Explanation of why this Notice of Motion is being submitted to Council.
Sending a Letter of support for the concept of New Towns to the New Towns
Task ForceIn June 2025 the Leader and the Deputy Leader sent a jointly signed letter to the New Towns Task Force (NTTF), which stated “… I am writing on behalf of Cheshire East Council to reaffirm our support for the new town proposals …”
We consider that the Leader and Deputy Leader, by sending this letter, were in contravention of the Nolan Principles of Objectivity, Openness, Honesty, and Leadership.
Additionally, we continue to believe sending the letter was ultra vires because it exceeded the powers afforded to the Leadership, by the Local Government Act 2001 and as specified by the Council’s constitution. As such our concerns relate to the lawfulness, the authority and the constitutional compliance associated with this action.
The committee system operated by this Council does not afford the Leader or the Deputy Leader any executive authority, except where expressly given by the resolution of Full Council, by a majority decision of a Council Committee or in following an expressed officer instruction or delegation. We believe none of
these scenarios applied in this instance.
Furthermore, in not specifying in their letter that they were providing their personal opinion(s), Cllrs Mannion and Gorman have allowed their words tobe misinterpreted by the NTTF as explicit support from Cheshire East Council for the creation of a New Town in northern England.
We note that Sir Michael Lyons, Chair of the NTTF confirmed to a Parliamentary Select Committee looking at the New Towns proposals, that he would not have progressed with any of the 12 identified sites unless they enjoyed local support. He further stated that the letter from the Cheshire East
Leader and Deputy Leader was seen by the NTTF as evidence of local support.
Notwithstanding any interpretation which may determine these actions were not ultra vires, this does not exonerate the Leader and Deputy Leader from the consequences of their actions.
To write such a letter shows both a significant error of judgement and a decided lack of political acumen. In what world did they consider supporting the concept of a New Town in our region would exempt Cheshire East from being considered as a potential location for such a proposal. With hectares of
undeveloped land, anyone could recognise that we would be a prime target for such a proposition.Additionally, we are concerned by the way the Leader and Deputy Leader have handled this situation, with a lack of transparency, holding secret meetings and sending confidential correspondence prior to the announcement by NTTF.
This shows a lack of respect for the democratic process, to us as elected representatives and the residents of Cheshire East. While their actions after Adlington was announced as a prospective site, presented an unclear narrative with inconsistencies in the information being shared, further undermining the position of trust which these two colleagues occupy.
Furthermore, this whole episode has shown that whatever Cllrs Mannion and Gorman were thinking of when they agreed to send that letter in June, they were not considering those who would be most impacted by their actions -the people of Adlington and surrounding settlements. Cheshire East residents
who will have to accept having 20,000 additional homes built on their doorsteps, live with years of construction traffic and associated disturbances destroying their peaceful existence and endure all the years of uncertainty that will follow.Because even if Adlington is not chosen to progress now, once the potential of developing a site there has been established it will forever remain a possibility.
Finally, it is evident that in sending their letter of support to the NTTF Cllrs Mannion and Gorman failed to consider the social, economic, or environmental impact of a new town of up to 20,000 homes would have on the north of the borough.
They ignored the fact that Cheshire East saw its population rise by more than both the North West average and England-wide average (7.7 %, compared to 5.2 % and 6.6 % respectively), and is projected to increase by more than the England-wide average between 2022 and 2032 (10.5 % and 6.4 % respectively.They ignored that the Government has already imposed a 166 % increase in the Borough’s housing target, towards which the 20,000 new town homes do not count. They failed to consider the financial and service delivery impact of these population changes on Cheshire East Council
Failing to deliver the Transformation required by the Peer Review in a timely manner
We are fast approaching the two-year anniversary of the Chief Executive’s arrival at Cheshire East and his instigation of the Peer Review, which identified 18 areas where the Council was in need of improvement.
Despite setting up the Assurance Panel, drafting several Plans of Action, appointing new staff and spending over £5.3 million on consultants to help with the process where is there any tangible evidence of the progress required.
Notwithstanding that the Conservative Group had raised concerns about the Council’s performance and called for a Peer Review well in advance of Mr Polkinghorne’s arrival, we are almost two years on from that review and we should be seeing clear signs of improvement, but we are not.
We accept that with 18 areas of concern identified things were not going to change overnight, but where are the green shoots of improvement we have been promised. What exactly did Inner Circle do for their fee and can we be confident that the plans we are being told about now will deliver the results needed if we are to avoid the MHCLG inspectors knocking at our door.
If you think we are being impatient, we draw your attention to the fact that MHCLG were so concerned about the lack of progress being made to address the points raised by the Peer Review in the first six months that they issued a non-statutory best value notice last May. This should have been the sign that
things were not happening fast enough and that we had to press our foot on the accelerator, but to date we seem to be stuck at 30mph in the inside lane of the motorway.We understand the division of responsibilities within local government with elected members setting out the strategies and officers being the ones to deliver, but it is also a partnership, with councillors and officers working together to accomplish the Council’s ambitions.
To achieve this there is a need for the political and officer leadership to be working in tandem, and we
are not sure that is happening here. We acknowledge that officers are working hard but are they working smart? Are they being provided with clear and purposeful instructions about what the will of political leadership is. If not, why?
Obviously, it is possible that the Leader and Deputy Leader are hiding their lights under a bushel and that to date modesty has prevented them from explaining their role in delivering the Transformation we are all expecting and which the people of Cheshire East deserve.
So, if the Leader and his Deputy believe they are providing an appropriate level of leadership, now is their opportunity to tell us all about it or at least provide us with an indication of how they intend to move things forward at pace.This does not however explain why some eighteen months after the Peer Review reported its findings there remains a distinct lack of tangible evidence that the 18 areas of concern are any closer to being resolved. But even if this lack of progress is a matter of poor delivery the responsibility for this failing
unfortunately still sits with the political leadership of the Council.Letting the Council’s Finances to deteriorate so budgets are only balanced by borrowing
For the last two years this Council has only been able to balance the books by seeking permission from the Government to borrow to fill the void between our income and expenditure predictions.
Only twelve months ago the, then acting, Section 151 Officer assured us that if we borrowed these monies they would not only balance the budget for last year but that they would be sufficient to cover the Council’s expenses associated with bringing forward the Transformation programme this year.Unfortunately, we now know the Council has been required to use most of that money on day-to-day expenditure, while much of the transformation work has yet to be started. However, having spent that money we now need ask the Government for permission to borrow more – a further £58 million over the
next two years, now the request to increase Council Tax by up to 9.99% has been refused by MHCLG.There hasn’t been any extraordinary event which has caused this catastrophic worsening of the Council’s financial situation in the last 12 months, it is merely a combination of over -ambitious budgeting and a failure to deliver either the in-year savings identified in last year’s budget or bring forward the planned
transformations which would deliver the promised longer-term savings.
These circumstances mean that the Council will be borrowing more and for longer, further increasing the debt burden placed on the Council Tax payers of Cheshire East for many years to come. While the interest payments on these loans will reduce the Council’s overall spending power and limit the options available for delivering all but the most-essential services to the people who fund us.While we are being told the budget we are being asked to approve at Full Council will help to resolve our current financial problems, we are doing so by saddling the hard-pressed council-tax payers for several years to come. All this while we councillors are being asked to take a bold leap of faith that the well framed report and attendant spreadsheets presented to us will produce the balanced budget, we all aspire to; whilst trusting that in a year’s time we will not yet again be told about unmet targets and missed opportunities.
Of course, the Leader and Deputy cannot be held directly responsible for pressures on budgets especially in areas like social care, but they should have been asking questions of officers about the veracity of the information presented in the budget at last year’s Full Council. While throughout the
ensuing months they should have been monitoring the situation to make sure things were on track and if not have been bring forward proposals to resolve the situation.Conclusion
In expanding on our three specific points of concern, we have set out sound arguments as to why we believe that this Council lacks the leadership it currently needs to address the issues set out by the Peer Review and in the Non-statutory Best Value Notice and to act in the best interest of all residents
of Cheshire East.
In finishing, please note that in bringing forward this Notice of Motion to Council, it is not our intention to discredit the work of officers or to challenge the good intentions of the Leader and the Deputy Leader.
We have taken this course in order to point out that despite their efforts the Council is still in a perilous position and that in assessing the current situation then in the interest of this Council and all those it is here to serve, we propose that Council should resolve to remove them from office.REFERENCE:
