Shropshire Council to rubber stamp decision to stop paying grants to town and parish councils

The authority says that by withholding the council tax support grant it will save £511,000 in the next financial year, with further savings in the coming years.

The proposal has caused uproar among town and parish councils, with many saying they will have to put up council tax precepts to cover the loss.

But a proposal will go before a full council meeting on Thursday (FEB 26) calling on the decision to be signed off.

The report, by council officer James Walton, says: "It is recommended that the council confirm agreement and recommend to council removal of any allocation of council tax support grant to town and parish councils for 2015/16 and future year's council tax reduction scheme following consultation."

Shropshire Council needs to plug a funding gap of £80 million between 2014 and 2017.

But the plans to withhold the grant money have caused anger in towns and villages across the county.

Charlotte Barnes, parliamentary candidate for the Ludlow constituency, wrote to Kris Hopkins MP, the Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to intervene in the dispute.

She said: "The proposals made by Shropshire Council to slash this grant are blatantly unfair. Central government specifically gives this money so councils like Shropshire can support our community councils.

"This move, if approved, will mean that all our councils, no matter how small, will lose something.

"Given the Government's purpose in giving Shropshire this money, I have appealed to Kris Hopkins to intervene in this increasingly acrimonious dispute."

A number of councils have increased their precept already, with Worfield and Rudge Parish Council increasing its by 1.99 per cent after losing a £1,000 grant.

Meanwhile, Wem Town Council passed a vote of no confidence in Shropshire Council after it missed out on £30,000 in funding.

The council put its precept up by 19.7 per cent after the council funding was withheld.

Members of Market Drayton Town Council also agreed to raise their precept by nine per cent from £102.68 to £114.47 due to the loss of the national grant.

The council will meet at Shirehall at 10am on Thursday.