Shropshire Council

Budget consultation for 2017-18

  • Period: 07 December 2016 - 18 January 2017
  • Status: Closed
  • Audiences: Everyone
  • Topics: Budgets
  • Type: Public

Please read all the information on this page, which helps to explain our current position and how we're proposing to tackle shortfalls in budget for the coming year. Once you've read the information provided, click on the "How to get involved" tab above to access a short online feedback form, where you can comment on each section's proposals. This will open in a separate window so you can refer back to the information below.  

Section A: developing the council’s budget for 2017/18

We're facing big reductions in government support year on year while demand for our services continues to grow, increasing our costs and creating a greater challenge than ever to balance our budget while delivering as many services to you as possible.

Of particular concern is the fact that our largest single area of spend is also the area growing at the fastest rate. Adult social care costs in Shropshire are increasing on average by 8% each year, driven by the ageing population (which in Shropshire is growing at almost 30% above the national average). This growth equates to an extra £8-10m every year. The government has acknowledged this pressure nationally and estimated that an additional £3.5bn needs to be raised over the next four years.

From 1 April 2016, the government gave local authorities the power to charge an additional 2% precept on council tax, specifically to raise around £2bn nationally to fund this known pressure. Unfortunately the spread of households around the country and the spread of demand for adult social care are not directly related. In Shropshire, this additional 2% precept only generates income of £2.5m against a pressure of £10m. In other parts of the country the reverse will be true.

Recognising the extra costs that rural authorities face in delivering services such as transport, waste management and adult social care across a sparsely populated area such as Shropshire, the government did provide some additional one-off funding in 2016/17 and 2017/18 to help with these pressures. Even after applying these additional one-off funds this still leaves us facing a funding gap of around £4m on adult social care costs for 2017/18. Furthermore, the need to meet the demand for statutory services across the council means that funding for all other services has been reviewed.

The result of this position is that greater levels of funding need to be raised locally and less essential services reduced to help fund the growth in costs in statutory services. In addressing this budget position, alongside other government funding reductions, we consulted the public as part of the ‘Big Conversation’ in December 2015. The purpose was to identify which council services the public valued, and capture thoughts on how we should look to tackle the funding shortfall. The results of this feedback influenced some of the budget proposals and proposed service delivery changes suggested for 2017/18. Two examples are detailed below:

You said What we've done
Communities need to be enabled to do more Established a town and parish council forum to share ideas, good practice and support the development of joint working and delivery, and introduced a new model for youth services. These changes have delivered a combined saving of £0.328m.
The council needs to raise income locally We're looking to generate new income through the creation of an energy company, and looking to increase income levels for services such as car parks and Theatre Severn. Income targets have increased by £0.490m as a result of these proposals.

Our initial savings plans identified proposals to save £24.8m in 2017/18. On receipt of the feedback from the Big Conversation and further consideration by officers, cabinet members and full council however, it was agreed that a significant proportion of the savings should be reconsidered. This was, in many cases, because the impact of the changes necessary may have long term, and unintended implications that couldn't be justified. A detailed list of the savings proposals that were initially considered but were then not taken forward is attached.

Detailed below are some examples of the specific savings proposals removed, linked to feedback from the Big Conversation.

You said What we've done
Protect services for vulnerable children Not taken forward savings proposals of £1.094m for looked-after care placements and leaving care support.
Prevention reduces long-term costs, and early interventions and prevention to address long-term health could help reduce costs over the coming years. Not taken forward savings of £4.023m in Adult Services around preventative contracts with voluntary sector organisations aimed at supporting people to remain at home and using community-based facilities. Also, we've not progressed £0.302m of savings proposals within Early Help Services for children’s social care interventions.

As well as removing these savings proposals, we've also further refined our budget plans and remaining savings plans for 2017/18, and have agreed revised proposals as outlined in the financial strategy presented to council on 15 December 2016.

The financial strategy identified that a funding gap of £18.09m remained in 2017/18 after implementing all savings proposals that were considered acceptable, and we've agreed to use a number of one-off initiatives and funding to temporarily close the remaining gap in the short term, while further work is carried out. This further work includes determining the shape of services we could deliver in the future, and establishing the true funding picture for Shropshire as this is developed by the government.

The proposals to deliver a balanced budget in 2017/18 include:

  • The use of one-off government grants anticipated to be received in 2017/18 (but which cannot be relied upon in future years)
  • Savings proposals that can be delivered earlier than anticipated (generating an additional one-off saving)
  • A review of our earmarked reserves (in line with additional powers afforded us by government) to free up previous commitments against spend

The Summary Revenue Budget for 2017/18 is attached for information in Appendix 1.

Section B: generating income through a council tax increase

We introduced an increase in council tax for the first time in five years in order to address the reductions in government funding. Feedback from the Big Conversation was that 49% of respondents agreed that we should do this as a mechanism for raising additional funds.

We're therefore planning to increase our share of council tax by 1.99% in 2017/18 (in addition to the 2% precept for adult social care). This will generate £2.568m in income per year, and has already been assumed when identifying the funding gap as outlined in Section A. If we didn't generate this additional council tax income, further savings to key council services would need to be identified to fund this shortfall.

The 1.99% council tax increase would mean an additional £24 on council tax for the year, which is less than 50p per week for the average Band D household in Shropshire.

Section C: capital programme

We're currently in the process of reviewing the capital programme to ensure that the capital projects progressed are in line with our draft corporate plan and the developing Economic Growth Strategy.

The government has also introduced new powers, for a limited time, whereby local authorities could use any capital receipts they generate towards the revenue costs of transforming services where this delivered budgetary efficiencies.

We've confirmed to the government that we'd like to take up this opportunity, and have therefore reduced existing capital commitments against those capital receipts projected to be delivered in 2016/17 and future years, to re-target these to the proposals in the revenue budget that will generate future revenue savings. This has released £3.97m from the capital programme in 2017/18.

Details of the capital programme for 2017/18 are attached for information in Appendix 2.

Documents

Following this consultation, a report was sent to cabinet for consideration.

Having read all the information provided, please use the green button below to access our short online feedback form to comment on the proposals.

Go to the feedback form »

Data protection

Information collected in our surveys will only be used by us (Shropshire Council) to inform the immediate and future provision of our services. The information you provide will be kept confidential in accordance with our Privacy Policy. It will not be shared outside of Shropshire Council. Information collected via our online surveys (hosted on the Surveymonkey website) will be stored on SurveyMonkey’s servers in the United States of America and SurveyMonkey gives an undertaking never to disclose the survey questions or your responses to others without permission.