Council meeting with Eric Pickles paves way for closer government ties
Telford & Wrekin Council’s leaders hope to use an “extremely constructive” meeting with Eric Pickles as a springboard for a closer relationship with Central Government.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government hosted a delegation from Telford and Wrekin at the House of Commons to discuss how the council is restructuring, its plans for the future and the financial difficulties facing the council.
Council leader Kuldip Sahota and Councillor Bill McClements, cabinet member for Resources and Service Delivery, attended the meeting as well as Telford MP David Wright.
The members highlighted to Mr Pickles the savings that had already been achieved through restructuring including halving the senior management team as part of a total package of £35m savings to be delivered over three years.
Councillor Sahota said after the meeting: “We had a very open and constructive dialogue with the Secretary of State and I hope that was the start of a good relationship between the council and central government.
“This is not a party political matter as I believe Telford & Wrekin Council has been underfunded regardless of which party has been in power nationally. This is simply about raising issues that are important to the people of Telford and Wrekin with the right people at the right time. This is about doing all we can to protect and maintain frontline services in the borough.
“We have a lot to be proud of. We have had a consistently low council tax since becoming a unitary authority in 1998 and currently have the lowest council tax in the Midlands but of course this also means that we have a lot less money to fund services than many other councils.
“We deliver quality, value for money services and we are an organisation that is investing in the future of Telford and Wrekin and it was good to be able to highlight all of that to Mr Pickles.”
The meeting also discussed the key challenges that are faced by Telford & Wrekin Council that the government may be able to assist with.
These include land stability issues in the Ironbridge Gorge, the need to update housing stock on the borough’s New Town Estates, roads investment and the impact of population undercount as well as grant funding issues.
