Shropshire Star

Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin council leaders pour cold water on merger idea

"We're fine as we are". That's the view of the leaders of Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin councils, who have said there are benefits to working together, but that there is no intention to join permanently.

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Telford & Wrekin Council's leader Shaun Davies has said it would be detrimental to the people of the borough, who would face higher taxes and would likely have to pay for car parking.

Malcolm Pate, leader of Shropshire Council, also addressed the issue in response to a question from Councillor Alan Mosley at the authority's cabinet meeting yesterday.

He said: "It is to our advantage to be working with Telford & Wrekin Council to see if we can have joint services and working with them on some things. That will save them money and save us money.

"I have told the leader of Telford & Wrekin Council there are no plans whatsoever to take over Telford & Wrekin Council.

"I think they have passed a motion in their council saying that they would not consider that in any case.

"If you look at the timescales involved too it is beyond solving our problems. I hope we can work together to work for the benefit of us both. I have to say since we have spoken to them their willingness to work on joint services has been greatly advanced."

The issue has come to a head after Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski claimed merging the two councils could save £20 million per year.

That has been followed by North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson writing to the Government calling for the suggestion to be considered, as well as a merger of the area's clinical commissioning groups.

But Councillor Davies said the proposal has been "firmly rejected" by both councils.

He said: "This issue has been regularly aired and is firmly rejected by both councils, precisely because we represent very different areas. This has cross party support on this council.

"Telford & Wrekin has a principally urban population, while Shropshire has a much more rural focus over a very large area. Unsurprisingly both have very different priorities reflecting the respective differences and needs of their residents. The same is true for the CCGs whose services are shaped to tackle very different health needs. Telford & Wrekin for example has greater challenges linked to deprivation, while Shropshire's challenge is stronger around the needs of older residents.

"This 'Daniel knows best' attitude is because he can't face up to the fact that people from Telford & Wrekin and their democratically elected representatives have different views from his own.

"He listens to clinicians when they support his view about health care, but when those clinicians are from Telford & Wrekin and their views are at odds with his, he throws his toys out of the pram. All of the examples he quotes, Norfolk, Somerset and Devon have a plethora of councils at both county and district levels precisely because they, like us, have very different populations and needs. Our neighbours Worcestershire and Staffordshire both have numerous councils and CCGs.

"The cynic might say that this is just a smokescreen by Daniel to blitz local democratic will and dictate to the people of Telford & Wrekin to pay to ease Shropshire's problems.

"Look at the facts – our economic growth last year was 1.9 per cent, Shropshire's was 0.2 per cent. We expect ours to grow even more in the two next years as major investments such as the new MoD Donnington logistic centre and Magna's T54 centre.

"Telford and Wrekin CCG balances its budget, Shropshire CCG expects to overspend this year by almost £30 million.

"Last year Shropshire raised £2.8 million in car parking charges, Telford & Wrekin's total was £73,000. A merger would see motorists in Telford & Wrekin paying a parking tax for something no-one wants to be part of."

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