Lib Dems mark 100 days in charge of Shropshire Council - hailing progress but challenges to come

The victory moved the council into new territory, with a party other than the Conservatives taking over for the first time ever.

To the outsider the first hundred days have been remarkably quiet - opposition criticism likely dulled by the culling of the Conservatives who were left with a scarcely believable seven councillors after the May vote.

Councillor Heather Kidd was named the Leader of the Lib Dems, and consequently the council, in the wake of the result, and as her party reaches its first milestone she has given her own verdict on the progress.

It is worth considering the picture when they arrived - huge financial pressure for the council, with no prospect of respite from government, combined with a disgruntled public which had just handed the previous administration the largest vote of dissatisfaction possible.

Speaking about the first hundred days Councillor Kidd said she has been pleased with progress in tackling potholes plaguing the county, on discussions with town and parish councils over future plans, and in improving customer services.

While there's happiness at making a dent in some of those issues, Councillor Kidd remains realistic on the authority's financial position and the challenges ahead - which will not be going away any time soon.

One of the moves taken by Lib Dems had been to bring in another in-house roadwork team dedicated to tackling the county's pothole-ridden roads.

Councillor Kidd said that while there is always more work to do, the impact had been significant, with the resources meaning that 55 per cent more potholes had been fixed when compared to the same point last year - a total of 564 more.

The efforts have also seen a sizeable reduction in the number of outstanding jobs - from 2,259 to 991.

Another key area has been the council's invitation for discussions with town and parish councils about partnerships, and services they may wish to take on.

The authority sees the move as having the potential to make a significant difference in towns and villages across the Shropshire Council area, with councils having the ability to shape and run more of the services that affect their residents.

So far 86 councils have responded to the authority, with 50 saying they want to work together.

Councillor Kidd praised the efforts of her deputy, Councillor Alex Wagner, who has been spearheading the work.

She said there was a real willingness from some councils to come to agreements with the authority.

She said: "There are some that have been banging their heads against the wall for some time to take things on so we want to move quite quickly."

The council leader said they had also cut the waiting times for people calling to speak to the council's customer services - another issue raised after taking over.

The spectre of the financial situation facing the council remains significant, and Councillor Kidd said they had not been surprised by what they had found.

She said: "I think this year is the way we expected it to be. I think what we have found behind the scene are things that have not helped and things we have to put right.

Councillor Kidd said the administration was having to wrestle with a hangover from the previous leadership with some of the Conservatives savings planned to cut £60m from the authority's revenue budget described as "never deliverable".

She said the shortfall in those plans had already eaten the reserves set aside by the authority.

There have been big decisions with the council choosing to scrap the long-running and controversial North West Relief Road over financial concerns.

The long term impact of that decision is yet to be revealed, with discussions still ongoing over whether the council will have to pay back £39m of government grant money already spent on the project.

Meanwhile the authority is considering the future shape of another of the previous administration's flagship schemes - the redevelopment of Shrewsbury's Riverside.

Outlining her thoughts on the overall position after 100 days Councillor Kidd said: "I am pleased that the things we thought we could do we are managing to do. I think those things are important to the public and we are not going to stop on them, but the big stuff is still to come.

"We knew it was coming, we knew it was going to be difficult but we have to energy and ideas that mean we can try and deliver something better than the last administration."