Shirehall finance chief Laura Rowley today sent out a strong “don’t panic” message amid fears proposed budget savings of nearly £18 million by Shropshire Council over the next two years would severely hit public services.

The authority is consulting on proposals to save more than £7 million next year and honour a promise to increase tax bills by no more than 3.5 per cent.

Householders in Oswestry and south Shropshire could see no hike at all.

But the Tory run authority will also have to find £10.6 million savings in 2011/12 to cope with an expected big loss in Government funding, and to maintain low tax rises.

Mrs Rowley, director of resources, said the targets were “quite manageable”.

But Nigel Hartin, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group, which had a budget question and answer session with Mrs Rowley earlier this week, said: “This year is difficult enough financially but looking forward to the next few years the outlook looks grim.”

He said there were “significant pressures” identified across service areas leading to a budget savings target of £7.1m next year, and “significant unknowns” in Government funding allocations for future years.

Councillor Hartin said: “The administration’s draft budget however includes disproportionate cuts to key adult social care services such as day care, increased Meals on Wheels charges, nursing care costs and charges for home care for the elderly, as well as cuts to leisure services, street cleaning, winter maintenance, grants to voluntary bodies and the complete removal of the area partnerships budget.”

Mrs Rowley said the council had identified savings it wanted to make for the next two years and there was “nothing to panic about” in achieving these.

“Some of them are not going to go down very well such as Meals on Wheels prices and car parking charges,” she said.

“But we are not doing a Staffordshire and closing residential homes or anything like that.

“In the scheme of things, these are quite manageable savings. There will be some who say we are not making enough savings on a gross budget of more than £570 million.”

Final budget decisions will not be taken until next February.

By Dave Morris