Savings in a unitary council

There is much speculation about council tax if it decided to change the structure of local government in Shropshire. My own view, after 25 years as a local councillor, is that any suggested savings will never be seen as a reduction in council tax.

The figure is quoted as £7.8 million a year, but I doubt it is possible to achieve that without cutting front-line services.

That figure also ignores the costs of administering and servicing a new town council for Shrewsbury, which will be a feature of any change.

Even if the amount suggested could be saved the first £3.6 million will be needed to finance the equalisation of council tax across Shropshire.

That leaves about £4.2 million and, assuming the SABC area gets a third of the money, that's £1.4 million.

At present the area benefits from £2.7 million in interest from capital which will no longer be available and the district will therefore be £1.3 million worse off - even before allowing for a new town council.

The business case does not appear to have shown any risk assessment and does require some serious auditing.

Council tax rises for next year are likely to be three per cent for SABC and 4.7per cent for Shropshire County Council because each council has different pressures. Combining councils is not a magic answer to lowering council tax.

From my experience I would treat all figures with a deal of scepticism. At least we do understand the present system and will not be speculating with public money if we stay as we are.

Peter Nutting, SABC and SCC