Shropshire Star

£30 million further cuts at Telford & Wrekin Council after George Osborne's Autumn Statement

"Difficult decisions" will have to be made by Telford & Wrekin Council - as it is forced to cut a further £30 million from its budget over the next three years.

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Following the release of Comprehensive Spending Review - Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement - the council has said it faces "unprecedented challenges."

Telford & Wrekin Council has already cut £80 million from its budget since 2010 and says the Autumn Statement has reaffirmed expectations that it will now be forced to cut a further £30 million.

The council now hopes that further details of the implications for its budget will be issued by Government later in December.

It was confirmed that deep cuts to local government will continue, with a cut of £6.1 billion to the government grant over the life of this parliament.

Now, the council says changes will need to be made to the way key services are run and deep cuts will have to be made, with running the number of services it operates at the moment impossible to continue.

Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for finance, said the next wave of Government cuts would have the greatest effect yet on frontline services and this time would hit the community hard.

The council has continued income generation initiatives such as the solar farm and Nuplace as well as working to attract inward investment to help protect frontline services.

However its says this is now not enough, although the council will continue to try and find new ways of generating income

The council is already developing ideas for savings proposals and will hold an extensive consultation from the beginning of January before any final decisions on how it will meet the new savings targets.

Councillor Carter said: "We've been very straight with our local community – sadly we will have some very difficult decisions to make – ones that we had hoped we would never have to make. But the scale of cuts in Government grant mean are now left with no choice.

"We will consult with the community about the implications of a range of potential cuts which will have significant consequences for local people. Our consultation is likely to include over 30 face-to-face sessions, on top of the variety of other ways people can engage and contribute.

"We will be tireless in getting out to our parish and town councils, voluntary organisations and other partners talk to them about how, in partnership, we can work better together and try to minimise the impact of cuts on services that our residents rely on and demand."

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