Council to pay firm £6.2m to identify savings

The local authority has announced it needs to make £62m in savings

Shropshire Council has announced plans to pay an external consultancy firm £6.2m to identify savings for next year's budget.

The local authority said it intended to cap its overall level of spending with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to 10% of its £62m savings target.

The council was facing "very difficult decisions" in their budget plans, Gwilym Butler, the cabinet member for finance said.

The authority's medium-term financial strategy, which sets out broader fiscal objectives for Shropshire Council for the next five years, will be discussed alongside the budget for the next financial year on Thursday.

The county council came under fire last year after announcing it had paid £3.3m to PwC to provide consultancy services in its bid to restructure services and reduce costs.

It insisted PwC was a key component in delivering savings of about £40m for the authority in the 2023-24 budget.

'No room for error'

Mr Butler said the expertise provided by the firm had been "key" to the authority delivering record levels of cost savings.

He added: "They have supported seven substantial projects so far, which have helped achieve savings of over £40m in this financial year, more than we have ever made before.

"However, the demand and cost for our services has continued to grow and we now face an even bigger challenge, like councils all over the UK."

The councillor said there was "no room for error" in the 2024-25 budget plans.

A report from the council's Transformation Task and Finish Group recommends that the council continues to develop its work with PwC by "tactically utilising their access to skills and knowledge that the Council does not have in house, to help transform services".

PwC declined to respond, and said that they were unable to comment on work being delivered for their clients.

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