Shropshire council looking to save £50 million

[zenfootball2]

It should be £53 million as they paid consultant s £3milliom.

I would not be surprised to see the swimming pool closed, and cuts to non statutory services like the library services and leisure services.

[kenwood]

Feb 16, 2024 9:13:38 GMT 1 zenfootball2 said:

It should be £53 million as they paid consultant s £3milliom.

I would not be surprised to see the swimming pool closed, and cuts to non statutory services like the library services and leisure services.

Possibly , along with cuts in staffing levels .
Perhaps this is the end of the NWR road scheme ?

What it does flag up to my mind is the lack of funding by this government for local authorities . That is why so many are struggling to provide services .
Of course local authorities cannot become bankrupt as such but they can withdraw support for those services which they are not statutorily obliged to provide .
Their other alternative if they so wish is to charge for things like the collection of green waste .
Local authorities have had a poor deal for some years going back to the likes of Eric Pickles - remember him .
It can also be argued that some authorities havent helped themselves including Shropshire who had to contend with a Chief Executive at loggerheads with the leader of the previous administration, Mr Barrow .
His in house company , call it what you will failed miserably costing the Council a fair wad .
At the moment not good news for us Council Tax payers or for the Conservative Party leadership locally .
I dont know how this news will affect the new Town plan but I’m sure there are others on here who are well up with this scheme and will be able to enlighten us , hopefully it’s not all doom and gloom.

[wookeywombat]

To add to all this, it is rumoured that Hunt is eying further cut backs in order to reduce taxes in the next budget.

[zenfootball2]

Iv just read the Shropshire star which gives us an insight into the scale of the challenge facing the council., it includes the equivalent of 300 full time staff been made redundant which means the possibility we f more then 300 people been made redundant, they are considering charging for green waste.
With a £62 million pounds black hole it looks rather gloomy.
With 77% of of council spending going on adult and children services which they have to provide by law, what is left is going to suffer.
The council plan to use £10 million of its reserves.
The budget will be set on February the 29 t

Some services will be cut and other cease to exist.

All done f which has been agrevated by the government cutting fund to councils, also we can't ignore the money wasted by the council of purchasing the shopping malls.

[rob62]

It is a sad state of affairs. Adult and Childrens social care takes up an ever growing proportion of the budget leaving very little for other services

The problem is especially acute in Shropshire as people retire here and then have to be supported when they need social care.

Be in no doubt that there will be cuts this year,next year and the year after unless central government funds local government properly.

The Tory administration have made mistakes and been wasteful in the past. But a change of administration will not solve the problem, the Council is on the brink of bankruptcy...simple as.

In fact I hope the Tories remain in power locally to sort out the chaos they have created

[jamo]

There is always room for local government to assess and remodel its priorities and to make prudent savings where it should. And could.

That said, the core of the problem that Shropshire Council faces lies directly with central government, who have systematically sought to dismantle local services at every turn.

Combine that with the very real fact that Shropshire has historically suffered from less central funding streams than comparable counties and you can see how we got to where we are. This council is not perfect, but it stands no chance of survival in the current situation it finds itself in.

Interesting to note that Kawczynski has not appeared anywhere locally, in the media or otherwise, for weeks. He knew what was coming.

[kenwood]

Don’t you worry Jamo.
Our beloved MP will soon be out strutting his stuff and claiming credit for the NW Relief Road which has just got the green light so I understand .
He just can’t help himself and I thought Conway was bad enough .

[staffordshrew]

The country is in one hell of a mess.

[rob62]

I see that the Council is willing to spend upto 6 Million on consultants while cutting services.
Words fail me.
Roll on May 2025 when hopefully the electorate will have the good sense to vote these clowns out