Shropshire Council must find extra £10m in savings

Shropshire Council has said it now has to make savings of £85.5m by 2014 - almost £10m more than first thought.

The Conservative-run authority said it had already made savings of about £40m.

The council's cabinet agreed further savings proposals on Wednesday which include changes to adult social care and a temporary spending freeze in non-essential areas.

The increase is due to inflation and revised changes to staff terms and conditions, the council said.

The council's original target for budget cuts by 2014 was £76m.

'Serious money'

The leader of the Labour group, Alan Moseley, said that the £9.5m "error" was a major concern.

Council leader Keith Barrow described the revised savings figures as "a serious amount of money".

But he said lots of savings had already been made by merging and sharing departments which was something that would continue.

The savings target will be revised on a regular basis, depending on savings made and on pressures outside the council's control, such as inflation and higher energy costs, a spokesman added.

Chief executive Kim Ryley said: "We had to work extremely quickly to find £40m of savings in the current financial year, as well as in-year savings during 2010-11, because the government front-loaded its budget cuts.

"Although we still have £46m to find, we now have time to work through the detail of how this can be done, and full action plans are now being brought forward for discussion and agreement."