Residents will feel impact of cuts, council warns

Locals will feel the impact of cuts to services like highway repairs and street light replacements, Shropshire Council warned

Residents will feel the pinch of budget cuts this winter, Shropshire Council has said, as it battles a forecast £37m overspend.

A meeting will hear its financial position has improved slightly on earlier forecasts, which could have seen reserves run as low as £300,000.

The authority's average spending forecast is predicted to be at about £37.2m, a monthly budget monitoring report shows - down from £38.5m earlier in the year.

But a report warned the council was vulnerable to "unanticipated shocks" until an extra cut in spending of at least 10% could be found.

In a statement, cabinet member for finance, corporate resources and communities Gwilym Butler said residents would start to "feel the impact" of the council's programme of budget cuts.

He said: "As we move into the autumn and winter period, residents will start to notice where we have had no choice but to reduce the level of service we offer.

"Whether highway repairs, street light replacements, or many other services, we know the impact will now be felt by our communities."

Butler said the council needed to examine every pound spent "at this critical point to secure sustainability for the future".

'Significant action'

The update comes as the authority battles with a savings target of £62.5m for the current financial year, on top of about £20m worth of "one-off" savings which were found in the last financial year.

About 53% of this year's planned savings are currently on course to be delivered, with plans in place for a further 4.5%.

The report said the council's financial position remained "highly challenging".

It stated a "general fund balance of £38.821m indicates that while the projected variance can be accommodated, significant action must be taken" to ensure the council's financial survival in the current year.

The report said "a reduction in planned spending to the end of the year of 10% would see an improvement in the overall forecast of around £20m".

It added: "This would reduce pressure on the general fund balance and ensure that the council had sufficient funds to withstand unanticipated financial shocks, in the normal manner and in line with good practice in financial management."

The cabinet will consider the report on Wednesday.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.