Shropshire Council to charge for green bins and reduce services as it looks to save £62m

The council must make savings of around £62m as it faces huge pressure on its finances. That is almost 10% of what the council expects to spend next financial year running day-to-day services.

They are currently setting the balanced budget for 2024/25, a balanced budget is a legal requirement for any council.

The council says that around 77% of the council’s day-to-day budget goes on adult social care and children’s social care services, which support the most vulnerable people in the county’s communities.

The remaining budget is spent on recycling and waste, housing, highways, youth services, leisure, outdoor spaces and much more: services that people in Shropshire use every day.

Some of these services are statutory, which means that the council has a legal duty to provide them. The council says It plans to overcome its budget gap by prioritising these, as it focuses on finding new ways to deliver them as efficiently as it can.

Local services to be affected

Among the services affected are savings with library provision, reducing support the leisure services, reducing the number of household recycling centres and charging for green waste collection, with households given the option to opt out of the collection.

The plans also propose reducing the number of council-owned buildings and other assets along with accelerating the move out from Shirehall.

A consultation is also underway to change how the council meets the transport needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

There are more than 100 proposals for making the savings that the council must make which will be presented to the council’s Cabinet on Wednesday 21 February.

"We have no choice" says Leader of Shropshire Council

Shropshire Council says these are decisions that the council never wanted to make, and recognises they will have a very significant impact on many people and local communities. 

Lezley Picton, Leader of Shropshire Council, said:

“Shropshire is in the same situation as many other councils up and down the country who face very difficult decisions, as budgets cannot cover the increasing demand for services, particularly in social care, amid rising costs.

“Our position is then made worse by Shropshire’s ageing population and its rurality: it costs more to run services in a sparsely populated large county like Shropshire.

“The choices we face are ones that no one in the council wants to take.

“But we are now at the point where we have no choice. This means we must continue our conversations with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and continue to lobby for funding reform that takes account of the challenges that local government faces, and the unique set of circumstances that makes Shropshire’s position even more challenging.”

Reaction to proposed budget plans

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said:

“People across Shropshire are rightly worried about which services Shropshire Council will cut next.

“This funding crisis is the result of years of neglect by a Conservative Government that does not understand rural areas and does not care about the people who live there.

“The crisis has been made worse by poor decisions like buying Shrewsbury’s shopping centres, but rural councils like Shropshire have been starved of the funding they need for crucial services like bin collections, road repairs and social care.

“Rishi Sunak has repeatedly been warned about the catastrophes facing our councils and yet he still seems happy to let counties like Shropshire suffer.”

Helen recently spoke up for Shropshire in a House of Commons debate on local government finance and the MP has also tabled a motion urging the Government to ensure councils have the means to deliver the services that local residents need.

"Shropshire deserves better", says leader of Green Group

Julian Dean, leader of the Green Group on Shropshire Council said:

"Shropshire deserves better. Years of underfunding by the Conservative Party, plus a cowardly refusal to tackle the funding of Social Care has led to this position. Council Leader Lezley Picton says "We need to make difficult decisions that we never wanted to make" and I believe her. But my sympathy is limited because she remains a member of the Conservative Party.

“Many will hope a general election will give us a chance to recover our public services, but Labour has made abundantly clear that their 'fiscal rules' will come first; they've already slashed plans for green investment. 'Fiscal rules' - like 'austerity' - are a political choice.

“Sadly the general election doesn't provide clear light at the end of the tunnel. The Green political choice is to introduce a wealth tax which could easily provide the funds to transform social care and enable councils to do what they often do so well - provide local services and opportunities to live better lives."

All proposals will go to Cabinet on Wednesday 21 February at 10.30am, and then to Full Council on Thursday 29 February at 10am, when Shropshire’s budget is set.

Proposals which would see significant policy changes which would need public consultation first before any final decision is made.