Shropshire Council powers have been chipped away, says David Lloyd

David Lloyd is standing down from the unitary authority after 40 years and today spoke of his main frustration, the chipping away of its powers.

The speaker of the council says it has lost its education authority role to academies and free schools and now shares responsibility for the care of the elderly and young people with the NHS.

He says he has also been frustrated by successive governments who, whenever the economy is under stress, put more pressure on councils.

"Local government seems to be seen as a soft touch by Westminster. We have to shoulder more and more with less and less money," he said.

"Local authorities have not only been deprived of central government support they have also been challenged to provide new services. There is constant pressure from the top with more demanded of councils, be they county or parish."

Although Councillor Lloyd, 85, is standing down from Shropshire Council he is remaining a member of Selattyn and Gobowen Parish council, continuing more than half a century's involvement in local government.

He said: "Stepping down from Shropshire Council will leave a big void in my life – one I hope to bridge by remaining a member of the parish council."

He paid tribute to the successes of Shropshire Council over the years, despite interference from 'above'.

"We should also have been allowed to set a three or five-year plan without it being changed on the whim of government," he said.

A former chairman of Shropshire Health Authority in the 1990s Councillor Lloyd said one of his biggest disappointments was when the care of the elderly and young people became a shared responsibility with the NHS.

"The services were managed so well by Shropshire Council and all the good that was taking place was dismantled," he said.

"Shared responsibility meant extra staff with two different arms of the service trying to live off inadequate means and also a loss of understanding and contact.

"Similarly, Shropshire's role as the education authority was a safety net, officers were seen as having a listening ear."

He said: "I feel the loss of direct contact in the running of schools has been detrimental.

"I am not against academies or free schools by any means. But I do feel that Shropshire Council could still play that overseeing role in education."

Councillor Lloyd said that he was also concerned that, although good work was taking place, the council responsibility for leisure, countryside and young people's service were also slipping away.

He said: "There are good schemes surfacing now with modest resources but that has come through necessity. "

At the Oswestry Town Council dinner last weekend, Councillor Lloyd received a special lifetime achievement award for his role in local government in the area.

He first became a parish councillor in 1964, at the age of 33 and then an Oswestry district councillor in 1976.

His lifetime's involvement in local government left an impression on his son Mark whose career has seen him rise to become chief executive of the Local Government Association.

A guest speaker at the town council dinner Mark said that some of his earliest memories were leafleting in council elections for his father.

He confessed: "I haven't always agreed with his views. When he was chairman of the health authority he was involved in a radio phone-in. I was a teenager and I rang in as a listener to ask an awkward question. He was furious with me."

Next week will see people go to the polls to select their next county councillor, with 74 seats spread across 63 Shropshire divisions. In what will be an election promising considerable changes 17 of the seats will be vacant after the previous councillors stood down.

The number of retirements means that some changes are guaranteed with several long-serving councillors deciding to stand down from their roles. Voting will be held at locations around the county including village halls, schools and churches. The poll will be taken on May 4.