3,500 responses to budget consultation shape proposal to close budget gap
Over 3,500 residents, businesses and other stakeholders responded to Shropshire Council’s budget consultation, setting out proposals to save more than £8m from next year’s budget.
Ideas for the survey were put forwards by a collaborative budget group, with representatives from all political groups on the council. These included a move to three weekly general waste collections, changes to park and ride bus services in Shrewsbury and a 4.99% council tax increase, which the Government assumes the council will make.
Feedback from the survey will be considered in any decisions taken forward for next year’s budget.
These savings proposals are in addition to £11m of savings relating to managing future demand for council services, and around £3.5m of savings already agreed as part of 2024/25 budget plans.
The council’s medium-term financial strategy will be put to the vote at a meeting of Full Council on Thursday 27 February and makes clear that the Government’s final settlement for Shropshire will not improve the council’s overall financial position.
Shropshire’s spending power will increase by 3.8% in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25, even with the 4.99% council tax increase the Government assumes councils will make. The national average funding increase for councils is almost double Shropshire’s amount at 7%, with urban authorities benefiting the most. Shropshire sees the fourth lowest increase out of more than 150 councils, following the final settlement confirmation
The ongoing impact of higher demand for council services, particularly for social care which accounts for £4 in every £5 the council spends, and increasing costs of services and supplies, will outstrip the increase proposed for Shropshire.
The removal of a rural services delivery grant worth around £9m is a key pressure for Shropshire, as well as a major reduction in potential social care funding compared to previous distributions for Shropshire, effectively representing a further ‘loss’ of £16m.
A new homes bonus, market sustainability and improvement fund and different pots of homelessness funding were noted in the report to bring some benefit.
On top of the new savings plans for next year, the council expects to end the year 2024/25 £35.6m over budget and would need to use almost all of its £38.8m reserves fund to balance its budget, despite delivering £50m of savings in year.
Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for finance, corporate resources and communities said;
“This year, we have had the highest number of responses ever to our budget consultation, a sign that people in Shropshire understand the difficult choices that we now face.
“This already challenging position has been made more critical by a final settlement from the Government which does not account for the additional cost of delivering essential services over a large, sparsely populated area.
“We join the Rural Services Network in calling to the Government for fairer funding allocations that genuinely reflect the needs and challenges of all authorities, including in rural areas with complex challenges such as Shropshire .”
