Shropshire roads spending cut by £2 million
Roads in Shropshire are likely to suffer because of a cut in funding of more than £2 million, Shropshire Council admitted today.
The authority is about to begin the process of finding a new company to carry out its roads and environmental maintenance work, in a contract which could be worth £17.9 million a year.
But the expenditure is predicted to fall by £2.3 million a year – with the council today warning of an "inevitable" fall in the amount of work carried out, which could in turn lead to more potholes.
Steve Brown, highways, transport & environment commissioning manager at the council, makes clear the situation facing the authority in a report today.
He says: "The effect on annual term maintenance contract expenditure is a forecast combined capital and revenue reduction in expenditure from £20.2 million to £17.9 million.
"Therefore, while the council will continue to meet its statutory requirements, reductions in volumes, standards, specifications, frequency of works and service requests are inevitable, and will need to be achieved to meet the financial pressures."
The authority says that current "satisfaction" from the public with the county's roads is "relatively high", but that "less available financial resources, will inevitably affect satisfaction as the volume of work reduces on a year on year basis."
The council's current highways contract with Ringway is due to expire on March 31, 2018, by mutual agreement. An option to extend the contract by four years was not taken up.
The agreement endured a troubled past with council chiefs holding meetings with the company over its performance on the contract.
The authority has considered a number of approaches for the replacement contract but has decided to follow the same model, of one firm providing its work, as opposed to a number of companies bidding for parts of the work.
In its report on the new contract, which is expected to take around 12 months to award, the council says "the requirement to reduce expenditure will be embedded into contract specifications and documentation, and will be consulted upon as appropriate."
No decisions have yet been taken on what might be affected by cutbacks according to Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's Cabinet member for highways and transport.
He said: "The capital grant from central government which funds the majority of our highways work and associated functions is reducing over the next few years. This is the same for all local authorities and means that the highways service needs to plan for a reduced budget.
"Final decisions have not yet been made about how savings could be achieved, but it's prudent that the council prepares, looks at it arrangements, consults with councillors, and seeks to work with partners such as town and parish councils to see where further efficiencies or savings could be made. As the report states, appropriate consultation will be required. Additionally, we will seek to attract further funding, such as the £1.9m received this year from central Government, to offset the expected budget reductions."
The council's cabinet will be asked to the start of the procurement exercise at a meeting next Wednesday.
