12/12/2025 - Permalink

Have your say on Shropshire Council’s Budget for 2026/27

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Budget consultation - have your say

Budget consultation – have your say

Shropshire Council is asking residents, businesses, and visitors to share their views on what is important to them as it plans how and where to spend its money over the next financial year. 

The council expects to spend more money than it has coming in by the end of March 2026. This financial pressure is likely to continue into next year and beyond. 

The main reasons for the projected overspend include: 

  • The ongoing challenge and rising costs of providing key services, especially for adults and children. 
  • 36% of savings planned to be delivered in the past three years have not been achieved. 
  • Rural councils like Shropshire face higher costs because of their size, dispersed population, and the need to maintain extensive infrastructure. 
  • Lower government funding and the loss of special grants make it harder to provide essential services, forcing councils to rely more on council tax or make difficult cuts. 
  • The council froze council tax for six years from 2010 to 2016 to help local people. However, this led to a significant drop in income and made the council’s finances less sustainable.  

The council is committed to finding efficiencies and making savings, but these changes require robust plans and will take time—they cannot be made immediately. Because of this situation, the council’s Cabinet declared a financial emergency in September 2025. 

Since then, the council has: 

  • Introduced several measures to stop and reduce its spending. 
  • Asked the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MCHLG) to borrow money to help it continue to deliver services until the end of this financial year, and over the following year. 
  • Received free help and guidance from the Local Government Association (LGA) following a Corporate Peer Review in July. 
  • Established an Improvement Board to oversee and support its improvement journey, led by an Independent Chair. 

While these steps will help stabilise finances, the council is also planning for the future. This includes: 

  • An Improvement Plan to better manage finances, clarify priorities, and support the workforce. 
  • A People Plan to address workforce development and organisational culture. 
  • Getting the basics right, including addressing six years of limited assurance as identified by internal audit and the statutory recommendation from a recent external audit. 
  • Investing in the right people and places, building capacity where it’s needed, and using some of the money borrowed from government to reduce risk and bring in income. 
  • Increasing income, which could include raising fees and charges, selling council-owned assets, investing in profit-generating activities, and possibly increasing council tax (all yet to be decided). 
  • Making difficult decisions on spending and service delivery. 
  • Reviewing contracts to get best value for money. 
  • Asking the government for financial help and fairer funding calculations.  

Each year, the council divides its available budget between different service areas. For 2025/26, a large part of spending went towards supporting children, families, and adults who need social care. 

  • Social care accounts for about 66% of total spending. 
  • This means two-thirds of every pound spent goes to helping people who need extra support. 
  • The remaining budget is shared between other services, such as maintaining roads, collecting waste, running libraries and leisure centres, and supporting local communities.  

Councillor Roger Evans, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for finance, said: 

“Councils across the country are facing significant financial pressures, and we are no exception. 

“While there’s lots of things we’re doing to stop and reduce spending and improve the way we work, this is not enough. 

“As well as our ask to borrow money from the government, we must take difficult decisions to set a balanced budget, and we want those decisions to be shaped by you. 

“Please tell us what matters most—so we protect the essentials, support those who need us most, and invest in a sustainable future for our county.”  

How to get involved 

  • Complete the Budget Consultation 2026/27 survey here
  • Write to: Tell Us, Feedback and Insight Team, Shropshire Council, PO Box 4826, Shrewsbury SY1 9LJ 
  • Need materials in another format? Contact customer services on 0345 678 9000 and explain any support you need to respond. 
  • Visit your local library to request support completing the budget consultation. 

The survey will close on Friday 16 January 2026. The feedback the council receives will feed into its budget setting process, and the resulting budget will be considered by Full Council early next year.