‘Dire future’ warning as more cuts loom for Shropshire Council

More and more cuts will need to be made until the government acts to address Shropshire Council’s £50 million annual funding shortfall, senior councillors have said.

The authority is calling for a long-promised overhaul of local government funding to be brought forward as a matter of urgency, warning that the current situation is unsustainable due to the rising cost of social care.

The council’s cabinet agreed today to go out to consultation on its budget for next year – including a 3.99 per cent council tax increase, or £1.11 extra a week for a Band D household.

As well as this, next year’s budget includes £4.5m of previously agreed cuts along with £4.8m in new savings, and £7m from the council’s financial strategy reserves – completely draining the pot.

Councillor Gwilym Butler told cabinet colleagues the council was unable to make any long-term financial plans because the government had once again offered only a single-year settlement.

The continued uncertainty means the council is currently predicting a £60 million black hole in its 2023/24 budget, rising to £62 million the following year.

Councillor Butler said: “We are unable to plan properly for the medium term on our revenue spend as our settlement for the government is still only for one year and all the grant funding is noted as one-offs, not continual base budget.

“We cannot be guaranteed we will have any of these budgets in 2023/34 onwards.

“This leaves us in uncharted waters and we have already started lobbying our MPs to influence central government policies to ensure our structural budget deficit is addressed on a permanent basis.

“This is not just a Shropshire Council problem. Nationally, councils that have had to fund adult social care and children’s services are all under extreme pressure, with more of their disposable budget being spent on those services.

“In Shropshire I predict we will spend 80 to 85 per cent of our disposable budget on care net year.”

Councillor Butler said the majority of the cost was on care for children and adults under 65, which he said reflected the “changing demographics of society”.

He said: “So if we are spending 80 to 85 per cent on care this only leaves us 15 per cent for highways, rubbish collections, swimming pools, libraries etcetera.

“It will not be enough for those services to continue as we know them unless we get an increase in our base budget.

“Until the government addresses social care funding direct to local government or take the services into the NHS, we are at a stalemate.

“Irrespective of your politics, this has been avoided by all governments for the past three decades. Things have to change.”

Green group leader Julian Dean said it was a “disastrous” time for local government, describing the council’s funding settlement as a “kick in the teeth”.

Labour group leader Alan Mosley said the council’s financial situation was a “disaster waiting to happen”.

He said: “We are facing a dire future in terms of the needs of the people of Shropshire and our capacity and our ability to provide for them.”

Council leader Lezley Picton said she had been lobbying ministers for more funds, adding that county MPs were “under no illusions” about the situation.

She added: “We are in a really, really difficult position. There is nobody in this cabinet that wants to reduce services for anybody.”

The consultation on the Council’s budget proposals is open until Wednesday, February 16.

It will be used to inform Shropshire Council’s final budget proposals which will go before full council at a meeting the following week.