Budget decisions mean significant impact - council

Shropshire Council said it had a record number of responses to its budget consultation

A council has warned it has "very difficult decisions" to make after receiving more than 1,000 responses to its budget proposals.

Shropshire Council is looking to make savings of more than £50m, in addition to increasing council tax by 4.99%.

Budget decisions would have a "significant impact" for communities who would see some "major changes", the authority stressed, with one councillor stating "some well-used services" would reduce or "stop altogether".

More detail about affected services are due to be announced in the next fortnight.

The council described demand on adult and children's social care and housing as "ever-growing".

Social care accounted for almost 80% of the budget, and the number of children in its care had doubled since 2018.

High rates of inflation had made these services more expensive than ever to run, especially in a large and rural area, the council stated.

'Difficult decisions'

Gwilym Butler, the councillor in charge of finance, said the authority had made more than £40m in spending reductions in 2023/24, but the impact of inflation and demand had "not gone away".

Financial projections for 2024/25 had "worsened", meaning "very difficult decisions" had to be made.

'No choice'

Mr Butler warned those decisions would result in "some well-used services reducing or stopping altogether".

The council, he said, did not want to do this but had no choice due to the scale of the challenge to make the authority financially sustainable.

Significant changes to council services would require public consultation, and details about the services set to be affected would be provided in the next two weeks, he said.

Feedback from the six-week budget consultation is set to go before the authority's cabinet on 21 February.