CHESHIRE East Council has issued another warning that emergency Covid-19 funding won't be enough to cover the impact of the pandemic.

While the authority welcomes the latest round of funding from central government - which has seen it gain an allocation of £2.7 million as part of a further £500m emergency pot - it says it won't be sufficient going forward.

The total amount of Covid-19 additional funding for Cheshire East has risen to £22.4 million, but a report to the council's audit and governance committee sets out a gloomy financial position.

The council originally forecast cost pressures on the council's 2020/21 budget of £60 million, this was later revised to £70 million. These cost pressures are the result of increased demand on council services, the council's response to the Covid-19 emergency and loss of income.

Current forecasts set out more than £42 million in increased expenditure.

Nearly a quarter of this relates to adult social care, with significant increases in other areas such as PPE, home to school transport and maintaining recycling and waste collections.

The pandemic has impacted on every area of the council's business with increased expenditure incurred in services such as homelessness, leisure, children's social care and ICT.

Reduced income for services stepped down through lockdown is forecast to be around £14 million, relating to services such as car parking, registration of births and marriages, cultural services, schools catering and planning.

A further £13.8m is forecast for loss of income from council tax and business rates.

The council has submitted regular reports to officials at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) who require estimates of forecast impacts for 2020/21.

Cllr Amanda Stott, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for finance, said: "We are continuously monitoring our spend and forecasts to fully understand the financial impact of our fight against Covid-19.

"Councils are not permitted to borrow to support revenue expenditure and it is illegal for an authority to set an unbalanced budget in any financial year.

"It is therefore now crucial for us to analyse the latest government funding and the extent to which the easing of lockdown and social distancing criteria will reduce forecasts to understand when cuts could be required to council services."

Cheshire East Council leader Sam Corcoran added: "The council has really stepped up to deliver for the people of Cheshire East during the pandemic. But we cannot ignore the fact that, in order to support people through this emergency, we have had to spend money that was not budgeted for at the start of the year.

"We have received repeated assurances from government that councils will be fully compensated for costs incurred in the fight against Covid, but we are yet to see the promise meet the forecasts.

"Cheshire East Council is not unique – councils across the country are facing the same challenges.

"That is why we continue to work alongside other councils and organisations like the County Councils Network (CCN) and Local Government Association (LGA), to lobby government to fully deliver on their promise."