Shropshire Council in plea with Government in bid to plug £18 million gap
The leader of Shropshire Council has made a direct plea to the government for more money, with the authority attempting to plug an £18 million gap caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Councillor Peter Nutting was joined by three of the county's MPs in talks with Robert Jenrick, minister for local government this week, where they pressed for 'fairer funding', greater flexibility over business grants, and more money to deal with the escalating impact of Covid-19.
The briefing to the minister outlined the situation faced by the council, which said it has so far spent around £36 million on emergency measures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, while receiving under £18 million from the government's national relief pot.
The council says it also wants more room to manoeuvre with awarding grants to businesses affected by the crisis, arguing that government rules prevent the allocation of the entire £91.7 million it has been given to support those impacted by the pandemic.
The minister was also lobbied over 'fairer funding', which the council says would be worth £50 million a year to the authority. It argues that the current government funding formula for councils skews money towards authorities with larger urban populations.
Council Nutting said the authority had been working to raise more money itself, while trying to reduce spending by using technology and other methods to make services cheaper.
However, he said the continuing requirement for budget cuts was hitting the council's funding for roads and economic development.
He said: “Shropshire Council has been working hard and making unprecedented efficiencies, whilst transforming public services through innovation, technology and by being more commercial. This process never stops, and we are relentless in exploring new ways to deliver better services at lower cost.
Pressures
“However, as outlined in our briefing to Robert Jenrick, we still have significant challenges which will put significant pressures on trying to balance our budgets over the next two years.
“We are proud that Shropshire is a high performer in looking after people. However, our adult social care and children’s social care continue to increase in cost per year, as vulnerable people in our communities need our support more than ever before. The continual shortfall in adult social care and children’s social care funding is resulting in other services at the council, including highways infrastructure and economic regeneration, having to be continually cut to manage the funding shortfall for the council.
“To be sustainable, and ensure the council can deliver other essential services such as highways maintenance, the council needs additional funding. Furthermore, a new Fairer Funding model needs to ensure that growth in social care costs is funded based on demand, as the current model cannot provide sustainable funding in Shropshire to match the growth in the cost of social care services.
“Our ‘ask’ is for enough additional funding to alleviate the funding gap, to allow us to continue to invest in our other essential services, whilst at the same time future-proof the financial sustainability of the council."
Councillor Nutting addded: "The response from The Secretary of State was very positive.
"He was able to grasp the issues at the heart of Shropshire’s financial problems very quickly, and indicated that the Government were working hard to deliver solutions.”
