Shropshire services given a stay of execution as millions of council reserves to be used for museums and leisure centres

Shropshire Council will give town and parish councils an extra 12 months to consider taking on or paying for museums, libraries, open spaces, and leisure centres.

But council chief executive Clive Wright said the authority would have to use money from its earmarked reserve fund of £60.8 million to help pay for the services for that period. The development comes after figures revealed that another pot of general council reserves has diminished, from a target figure of more than £28 million to £18.4 million.

Mr Wright said: "It will be a challenge to find the additional funding required and we will do this by reviewing our earmarked reserves and by selling buildings and land to generate capital receipts."

• MORE: Shropshire Council cash reserves £10 million less than suggested

Earlier this week Mr Wright confirmed the council would look to raise as much as £40 million from the sale of its buildings and land over the next four years.

No figure has yet been put on the cost of continuing to fund the services for a year.

Town and parish councils had warned that a September deadline for decisions on whether they wanted to take on services was unreasonable.

A number of councils, such as Shrewsbury Town Council, have already made progress on plans to take on or support services, including the town's library and museum. But others have yet to find a solution, leaving community services at risk of closure.

Shropshire Council leader Malcolm Pate said: "Shropshire Council finances are extremely tight and finding this extra money will be difficult, meaning we will only be able to do this for a short time.

"All service areas will have to be managed extremely efficiently and the council will have to use some of its reserves.

"Town and parish councils have been working hard to put plans together for the services in their area they would consider delivering or funding in the future."

Councillor Cecilia Motley, cabinet member for rural services and communities, including town and parish councils, said she hoped the extra time would allow councils to come up with concrete plans for the services.

She said: "It is important we trust what town and parish councils are telling us and cabinet members are very keen to support the transition of services to local councils.

"We decided that the fairest way to do this was to continue to fund the services at risk until March 2018, which will give councils the time they need to work up robust plans. We will review these fully worked up plans in September 2017 and plan for their implementation in April 2018."

Councillor Stuart West said: "Some local councils have grasped this as a real opportunity and they have been quick to put proposals together to deliver services themselves. We need to continue to support these ambitious and pioneering councils and I believe that an additional year of preparation will go a long way to assisting them before they stand alone from March 2018."