Shropshire councillor calls on government for funding rethink

Councillor Hannah Fraser, who represents Shrewsbury's Abbey ward on Shropshire Council, has been leading a group tasked with scrutinising the authority's plans to cut round £30 million from next year's budget.

She said that the current plans will have an impact on all Shropshire residents.

She said: "There is no doubt that rural councils across the UK have been dealt a heavy heavy blow by central government, and Shropshire is no exception.

"All areas of the council's services will be affected by deep cuts over the next four years, and as residents we will start to see the grass cut less regularly, the litter collected less often and some of our buses run less frequently.

"Services for vulnerable children and adults are under the spotlight too, and council officers are battling to find ways that they can spend less money without compromising safety or quality of life."

Shropshire Council's leader, Councillor Malcolm Pate has outlined a stark picture for the county's public services, warning that leisure centres and museums are at risk of "likely closure", if the Government does not increase its funding.

Councillor Pate was joined by the council's chief executive Clive Wright on a visit to lobby Government at Westminster last week.

The pair told Marcus Jones MP, parliamentary undersecretary of state for local government, that Shropshire Council needs £20 million more a year, to prevent the cuts put forward in its financial plan for the next three years.

Shrewsbury and Atcham MP, Daniel Kawczynski, has already said he will vote against his party for the first time in his career if they do not provide more money for Shropshire.

Councillor Fraser said the current funding would not be enough and urged other Conservative MPs to oppose the Government's plans.

She said: "Can this circle be squared? I don't think so. The government's spending plans will change council services beyond recognition.

"Are David Cameron and the Conservatives so out of touch that they don't know what damage their cuts will inflict? Perhaps they do know and just don't care.

"On February 12 there will be a vote in parliament on the planned cuts to local government.

"Maybe, just maybe, enough Tory MPs will defy the government and vote against the plans and the dire cuts."