'Difficult decisions' as inflation increases Shropshire Council deficit

Shropshire Council said it had to consider selling its assets to make savings

A council said inflation and a growing demand for services were to blame for a predicted multimillion-pound overspend.

Shropshire Council said there would be "difficult decisions" to take in order to make necessary savings.

Its overspend figure of £4.1m was a "best case scenario" it said, and costs could be as high as £18.8m.

Proposals to save money include selling council assets and restructuring the local authority's fostering scheme for children in care.

"Just as households face very big increases in costs, we're also facing a really tough year with rising fuel and contract costs," said Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for finance.

The local authority said inflation was adding about £5m to the costs of running services, while at the same time increased demand was costing an extra £7m.

"The combination of inflation and growing demand for our services, linked to a number of factors, means we are now working hard to identify how we can quickly close the overspend gap between now and next April," Mr Butler said.

"We are also looking at difficult decisions on what we can stop doing to help to make the savings we must find."

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Options include reducing its number of offices and selling the space - in a recent announcement the authority said most of its staff would continue to work from home after the pandemic.

The council said the number of children in care in the county had jumped by more than 50% in the past year and its new Stepping Stones project would also be a cheaper way of supporting them.

The local authority said the scheme involved "extensive training" for foster carers to provide a better chance of sustainable placements for young people with complex needs.