'Patronising and condescending' - Ellesmere councillor criticises devolution plans
A councillor has criticised Shropshire Council’s proposal to devolve services to town and parishes – claiming that it is “patronising and condescending”.
The unitary authority is in severe financial straits and is trying desperately to stave off the threat of government commissioners coming in.
Therefore, to cut costs and address the significant budget shortfalls, it is devolving services like street cleaning, bin emptying and maintenance works to smaller councils. Shropshire Council will initially party fund it, which it says will achieve better local control and efficiency.
However, while some town councils – such as Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Broseley – have agreed to take on the services, others are less reluctant.
One is Ellesmere Town Council, who discussed the issue at its last meeting. Councillor Alex Wagner, the deputy leader of Shropshire Council, wanted members to respond to the proposal and to answer 28 questions.
However, Councillor Malcolm Foreshaw said that, whoever drafted it “doesn’t understand governance”, adding that, although he understands that Shropshire Council is in a very difficult position, asking the town council to take on the services “is unacceptable.”
“I find it patronising and condensending,” he said.
Councillor Naomi Proffitt, however, questioned what some members were unhappy about.
“He’s made it quite clear that Shropshire Council can’t compel us to make any decisions,” she said.
In response, Cllr Foreshaw said: “No, but if we do take these on, we need to be in control.”
Members agreed to put the proposals on hold until September until they have received more feedback.
“We can start to think about it for the next financial year,” said Councillor Liz Woodbridge, the Mayor of Ellesmere.
Cllr Wagner said it’s about local choice, and “you get every end of the spectrum”.
“The policy we’ve taken is, ‘build a coalition of the willing’,” he said.
“There are many places who are keen to move ahead really quickly.
“In Broseley, they weren’t initially going to be a pilot, but they specifically said, ‘is there any way you can get us to do this as soon as possible, we think it’s a great idea’.
“Ellesmere – I went and saw them, and they’re definitely not going to go for it. They’re probably the only market town of any size in Shropshire that have given a ‘hard no’. But maybe in a couple of years when all their neighbours have had it and they’ve seen the impact, they might change their mind.
“They said, ‘you’re forcing us to do this’, and I said, ‘no I’m not, it’s just we’re not going to be providing a number of the things you’re complaining about in the next breath’. It is local choice, but I think it’s a great idea and am pushing it.”
