Response to Government funding settlement

The Government announced its “new look” local government finance settlement on Wednesday 19 December 2012, and finance officers are working hard to establish what the figures will mean for the council.

Initial figures released by the Government show Shropshire will have a 1.1% reduction in “spending power” in the next financial year, but it’s too early to say exactly how that will affect current budget projections.

Council leader Keith Barrow said:

“We are still working through the figures, so it’s difficult to know the specifics of how the settlement will affect us.  It’s clear we are in for some tough times but we have a plan for how we are going to deal with it.

“The Government has issued what it calls ’50 ways to make sensible savings’, and from an initial look at the document we are already doing a lot of them, so I am confident we are on the right track.”