Earlier this month we shared that the corporate leadership team (CLT) took time out at an away day, to focus on their development as a newly formed team and priorities for the coming months. They focused on transformation and delivery as part of wider organisational improvement and financial sustainability. 

Over the last year of delivering the council's transformation plan, it’s not always been easy to see progress and direction of travel. A lot of what we have been doing has been figuring out what is possible and the areas with the greatest potential to make the changes and release the financial and non-financial benefits we need.  

One of our most important priorities is improving outcomes for children and families in Cheshire East. We are transforming children’s lives together, building on the progress made since the 2024 Ofsted inspection and continuing to drive forward the improvements that make a real difference. 

To help us realise these ambitions, several projects within the current children’s transformation programme will now be integrated into other projects. This will release capacity and sharpen our focus on the areas that matter most. We’ll also be increasing resources in this space—something we know is essential to sustaining momentum. 

A dedicated programme team will be established to support delivery children’s transformation and improvement over the next 12-18 months. This team will include expertise from project management, legal, finance, HR, and business intelligence, ensuring we have the right support in place to drive progress. 

In addition, updates are being made to both the Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) improvement plan and the Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) 'One Plan' to reflect our evolving priorities and ensure alignment across all areas of improvement and transformation. 

We’ll continue to keep you updated as this work progresses and thank you for your ongoing commitment to making a difference. 

You can now book on to the next staff events at Tatton Park on 23 September. 

We’ve listened to feedback from colleagues on what works and what doesn’t work with these events and we have a really interactive session lined up.  

Please do book your place and encourage colleagues to attend one of the sessions.   

We encourage and expect representation from across the organisation, so your participation and attendance from your teams is important. 

• Morning session - Tea/Coffee, networking and marketplace from 8.30am for 9.15am start* 

• Afternoon session - Tea/Coffee, networking and marketplace from 12.45pm for a 1.30pm start 

*Please note the morning session is starting earlier than previous events so please do consider this in your choice of which session to attend. 

The staff events will be part of our first workforce week (w/c 22-09-25) – a whole week dedicated to workforce, wellbeing and engagement around the some of the council’s key priorities.  Agenda for the staff event and workforce week will follow shortly.   

Following confirmation last month, the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC) has confirmed agreement on the pay award for the 2025/26 financial year.  

Centranet has now been updated with the revised pay structures. The pay increase will be reflected in the September pay run, including any applicable back pay.  

Please note: If you receive Universal Credit, the back pay may affect your payment. Unfortunately, we’re unable to spread the back pay over multiple months. Universal Credit is a complex and individual matter, so if you’re affected, please speak to your work coach via your online account or call the helpline on 0800 328 5644.  

Read more about how wages impact Universal Credit payments 

All staff must complete the Protecting and Managing Information (PAMI) training. If you don’t, your access to council systems may be suspended. 

We’ve made the training easier to complete based on your feedback - but it’s still essential. 

Key reminders: 

• Complete during work time (not in meetings). 
• Managers must ensure staff have time to complete the training. 
• There are now just two streamlined modules: GDPR and Cyber Security. 
• Each module takes 20–30 minutes. 

Over the next few weeks, key decisions will be made by Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester and Warrington Councils regarding devolution proposals for the Cheshire and Warrington area. 

The Cheshire and Warrington devolution workforce workstream have provided a new update on their work to establishing staffing arrangements for a new combined authority. This includes: 

• What will the staffing arrangements be at the new Combined Authority?
• How will the statutory posts be appointed to?
• What about the rest of the staffing structure? 

We’re pleased to share an update on our senior management structure, following several key appointments that strengthen our leadership team.  

A warm welcome to Chris Benham, who has now started as our permanent Director of Finance/Deputy S151, and to Kevin O’Keefe who has joined us. Kevin will become our Interim Governance, Compliance and Monitoring Officer after Janet Witkowski leaves us for her new role at Tameside, at the end of the month. 

We would like to thank Janet for all her hard work on behalf of Cheshire East, both in her role as Head of Legal Services and most recently as Acting Governance, Compliance and Monitoring Officer. 

Caroline Tote has joined us on an interim basis as director for quality, partnerships and commissioning in children’s services.  

We have also now recruited to this role permanently and hope to have the new permanent director starting with us at the end of September. 

CeCe, our new AI-powered digital assistant, is now live on our phone lines. She is the first voice people hear when they call us. 

CeCe helps with common and routine queries – like bin collections, council tax, and library opening hours – so our customer service teams can focus on supporting those who aren’t digitally enabled or who need more personalised help. 

The web version of CeCe will follow soon, once final testing is complete. 

CeCe doesn’t use the open internet or generate her own answers. She works from a carefully curated database built from the information on our website – so her responses are only as accurate as the content she’s given. 

The launch marks another key milestone in our transformation programme, which is focused on improving delivery of high-demand services by using digital technology to enhance the customer experience, drive efficiencies and deliver financially sustainable services.