Council budgets in the West Midlands under pressure from inflation rise

Shropshire Council's Gwilym Butler said the war in Ukraine had increased pressure on their budget

Councils in the West Midlands are facing shortfalls of tens of millions of pounds due to rising inflation.

Shropshire Council predicted the increasing prices will add an additional £8.3m to their budget this year.

In Stoke-on-Trent, the shortfall is forecast to be £12m and Staffordshire County Council said it expected an overspend of more than £14m.

Councillors for each agreed to take action this week over the deficits.

Inflation, the pace at which prices rise, increased to 9.4% in the 12 months to June, the Office for National Statistics said this week.

Councils have been examining their financial strategies for the next few years in the wake of the increasing pressures.

Councillors in Shropshire agreed on Wednesday to spend the summer preparing a first draft of savings to tackle their deficit.

Gwilym Butler, the authority's councillor in charge of finance, said they had not expected the widespread economic impact there has been from the war in Ukraine.

"The increase in fuel costs is putting huge pressure on domiciliary care, for example," he said.

Staffordshire councillor Ian Parry said the authority "still face financial challenges" from inflation

Staffordshire County Council's cabinet decided on the same day to put more than £11m from their contingency budget and reserves towards their overspend.

Finance councillor Ian Parry said they "still face financial challenges" but aimed to keep their finances "in as strong a position as possible".

The leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Abi Brown, wrote to the government this week to ask for an extra one-off grant to help them with their £12m shortfall.

The authority has also tightened up any expenditures and will review what building projects it can delay.

The government said it would speak to councils with concerns about inflation.