Cheshire East scored 730 out of 960, top of 153 councils in the Children's Commissioner's Childhood Lottery. Slow EHCPs and social worker churn drag it down.
Cheshire East is the easiest place in England to be a child, according to a new ranking by the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza.
Her report, The Childhood Lottery, scores all 153 upper-tier councils on 96 measures of children’s lives. Cheshire East came top with 730 points out of a possible 960. Merton in south London was second on 714 and Surrey third on 708. (Children’s Commissioner, The Childhood Lottery)
It is in the top 20 for every one of the report’s six areas of childhood. The commissioner singles that out: most councils score well in some areas and badly in others.
Cheshire West and Chester was sixth. The report notes that two of the six highest-scoring councils are in the north, “the two Cheshire unitary authorities”.
How the ranking works
Each of the 96 measures is scored from 0 to 10, with every measure weighted equally. They are grouped into six areas:
- family
- health
- education, jobs and skills
- care
- community
- “better world”, which covers things like play areas, libraries, youth services and whether children feel listened to
About half the measures come from the commissioner’s own surveys of children and data requests to councils. The rest come from the Department for Education and ten other public bodies.
The commissioner is clear that the scores “are not performance measures of local authorities”. They include things a council does not control, such as police data and child poverty.
The North West average was 575. Halton scored lowest in the region. Middlesbrough was bottom nationally.
Where Cheshire East does best
The full dataset shows the measures where Cheshire East ranks near the top of the 153 councils (full dataset):
| Measure | Cheshire East | Rank of 153 |
|---|---|---|
| Unauthorised absence in mainstream schools, 2024/25 | 1.42% | 5th |
| Children in temporary accommodation, 2025 | 5 per 10,000 | 7th |
| Children who saw an NHS dentist in the last year, 2024/25 | 68.4% | 10th |
| Children aged 0 to 15 in relative low income families | 17.5% | 14th |
Children’s own answers to the commissioner’s surveys also put the borough near the top. Only 0.7% disagreed that they live with people who make them feel loved, fourth best in England.
Where it falls short
A top score does not mean top marks everywhere. On some measures Cheshire East sits in the bottom half, or near the bottom:
| Measure | Cheshire East | Rank of 153 |
|---|---|---|
| Schools that had free food provision, summer term 2024 | 33.1% | 134th |
| Education, Health and Care Plans issued within 20 weeks, 2025 | 23.9% | 119th |
| Schools with a PCSO or Safer Schools police officer | 0% | 115th |
| Children in care who had three or more social workers, 2024/25 | 28.2% | 110th |
| 16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training, 2026 | 3.6% | 92nd |
The council also told the commissioner it has no early support hub or mental health drop-in service for children and young people. That scored zero.
The slow EHCPs matter to many families locally. An EHCP sets out the support a child with special educational needs must get. The legal deadline is 20 weeks, and fewer than one in four Cheshire East plans met it last year.
What the council says
Councillor Laura Crane, Cheshire East’s cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Cheshire East is a fantastic place for children and young people to grow up, and we’re delighted to see this recognised in the report.”
She added: “At the same time, we are clear-eyed about the challenges that remain. While Cheshire East is a largely affluent borough, we know that not every child experiences the same opportunities.” (Cheshire East Council, 19 October 2026)
On 8 October the council’s Cabinet formally committed to becoming a “Marmot” local authority, an approach aimed at reducing health inequalities. (Cabinet minutes, 8 October 2026)
The report itself quotes a 13-year-old boy from Cheshire East, asked what would make his area better: “If the area was clean and tidy. Everything could be improved in Cheshire East.”
What it means for you
- If you are choosing where to live, the ranking is about the whole borough. It does not compare Macclesfield with Crewe, or one school with another. Our GCSE results page has the local school figures.
- If your child is waiting for an EHCP, the 20-week deadline is a legal one. You can ask the council where your child’s plan is and complain if it runs late.
- If you want to look up a measure, the commissioner’s interactive maps and full dataset let you compare Cheshire East with any other council.
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