Consultation opens on Shropshire Council spending
Householders and businesses are being asked for their opinion on how Shropshire Council plans to spend its budget in the forthcoming financial year.
A consultation has opened and provides local people and organisations with the opportunity to tell the council what they think about the specific proposals outlined in the Financial Strategy for 2019/20.
These proposals aim to help address the difference between the limited funding the council receives, and the increasing cost of providing services such as adult social care and children’s social care up until 2020/21. The council is planning to deliver savings of £18.5m in 2019/20.
The council has delivered savings of over £48m in the last three years and, whilst this has enabled it to deliver balanced budgets each year, further work is still needed to deliver more savings as Government grants continue to reduce.
Council budgets have been put under pressure s within the revenue budget so the council is using its capital budget to develop large-scale schemes that will deliver additional income or reduced costs.
These include the purchase of the Shrewsbury shopping centres, the council’s Digital Transformation Programme, and the refurbishment of Shirehall.
The council plans to increase council tax payments in 2019/20. The proposal is for a 2.99 per cent increase in addition to a 1 per cent increase that is used specifically for social care.
If approved, it will bring in £5.926 million to help the council to deliver services that the council is required to provide.
Peter Nutting, Shropshire Council’s Leader, said: “As a result of substantial Government funding reductions, we need to significantly reduce our budget and make unprecedented changes to our services.
“In 2019/20 Shropshire Council is facing a budget shortfall of around £26.7m. Putting it simply, our income has fallen due to Government cuts, whilst demand for our vital services that protect some of our most vulnerable has increased.
“We’ve identified many solutions for next year, including investing in capital schemes which generate a return on investment. Also, it’s widely understood that investing in such schemes supports economic, housing and population growth and offers a better return on investment than just keeping money in a bank."
To find out more and and to take part, go to http://shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/2019-budget-consultation/
