TIME is running out for residents to have their say on Cheshire East Council’s financial plan for the next three years.

Residents can submit comments on CEC’s preferred financial savings and generation from 2017 to 2020 until Tuesday, January 10.

Anyone taking part in the consultation will be asked to comment on each ‘outcome’ laid out in the council’s pre-budget consultation report which can be found on its online portal.

The document says: “Setting out the council’s financial plans for the next three years is particularly challenging in the current public service environment.

“With financial pressures growing in the health and care sectors it should come as no surprise that the council must find different ways of working with residents and our partners and that we will require residents, where they are able, to make greater contributions to service costs.”

The proposals include increasing council tax by 3.99 per cent, and there are a number of options regarding savings in various areas.

Outcome one focuses on communities, and could include cutting the environmental health, trading standards and animal health out of hours services that currently operates in east Cheshire, as well as transferring selected community centres, including Handforth, into a ‘local management arrangement’.

The second outcome focuses on the economy, and includes a proposal to increase parking enforcement by hiring 10 more civil enforcement officers which the council reports could generate another £100,000 per year.

Outcome three focuses on education, with proposals including reviewing current school transport provisions and a review of the ‘short break provision’ for children with disabilities.

Environmental services reviews come under outcome four, in which the council discusses the potential closure of Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Outcome five, concerning health provisions, suggests strengthening the home adaptations team to help reduce the future demand on health and social services and increase revenue income.

The final outcome focuses on strengthening the borough’s finances by proposing to review the 700 contracts the council has with its service providers, as well as improving capital investments.

The consultation can be found at cheshireeast.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/your_council/council_finance_and_governance/cheshire_east_budget/cheshire_east_budget.aspx