Shropshire Council continues to explore opportunities to work with town and parish councils to deliver services and outcomes
Town and parish councils across Shropshire are being invited to help shape the future delivery of local services as Shropshire Council explores opportunities to deliver services with and through local councils.
Oswestry town centre
Expressions of interest are being sought from councils that want to explore opportunities to take on local assets or help maintain or enhance service delivery to their communities.
The engagement builds on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by more than 50 town and parish councils in 2025, indicating their interest in exploring opportunities to collaborate. Potential opportunities range from service enhancements funded locally, through to different service delivery arrangements and, where appropriate and viable, the transfer of assets or services.
Councillor Alex Wagner, Shropshire Council’s Deputy leader and Cabinet member for transformation and economic growth, said:
“This is about creating a genuine partnership with town and parish councils and recognising that different communities want different things. This is true even – or perhaps especially – in the extremely challenging financial circumstances we are in.
“Some councils may simply want to enhance existing services. Others may be interested in delivering services locally or taking on community assets. Our role is to support those ambitions and develop arrangements that are mutually beneficial and work for local residents.
“We know that town and parish councils often have a detailed understanding of their communities and can be powerful local partners. By working together, we can create more responsive, locally shaped services that are more efficient, effective, and economical.
“This is a significant milestone in our commitment to partnership working and another step towards ensuring decisions are taken as close as possible to the people affected by them.”
The Expression of Interest process will focus initially on identifying opportunities to:
- Transfer suitable Shropshire Council-owned assets under the Town and Parish Council Asset Transfer Policy.
- Help deliver street scene services, building on lessons learned from existing pilot arrangements around the county.
- Other opportunities where councils believe there is potential for greater local involvement and service delivery.
Town and parish councils will be asked to express their interest by the end of August, indicating their ambitions, capacity and readiness to take on additional responsibilities. This will be followed by an assessment and engagement process during the autumn. Detailed business cases will then be developed where appropriate, with any agreements finalised from December onwards.
A dedicated programme team has been established to support councils throughout the process.
The council says the programme forms part of a wider commitment to stronger local partnerships and ensuring services are delivered in ways that reflect the needs of individual communities and exploring ways to maintain or enhance service delivery and outcomes while reducing its expenditure.
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