MP's Shropshire and Telford council merger idea is given short shrift

But the leader of the Telford authority says it"simply won't happen".

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, says uniting the two authorities would save upwards of £12 million a year, and would answer some of the problems outlined by their senior management who have warned of financial pressures leading to a reduction in services.

But Kuldip Sahota, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, was unequivocal in his dismissal of the idea, saying: "We will not be merging with Shropshire Council through the back door, the front door or any other door."

He added: "I am not surprised that Mr Kawczynski looks enviously at Telford & Wrekin as a solution to his and Shropshire Council's problems."

The Leader of Shropshire Council, Keith Barrow, said he does not think a merger is realistic.

He said: "I'm all in favour of closer co-operation between the two authorities, but I don't think there is a will to go anywhere beyond that."

Mr Kawczynski has raised the issue several times in the past 12 months and has again called for people to be given the chance to decide in a referendum.

He said: "Do people want to have the chance of saving £12 million a year or not? It really is very simple, and I think £12 million is just the start of it. Why don't we get an organisation to assess what savings can be made?

"I just find this replication between two parts of the county quite difficult to justify given current circumstances.

"It is a question of local democracy, everyone talks about it and the people should be able to decide."

Mr Kawczynski said he believed a merger would allow the councils to exercise more influence and attract more funding.

He said: "Both councils have very, very different strengths and if we could somehow synthesise the strengths of both organisations we would create a super council which would massively punch above its weight in terms of the Local Enterprise Partnership, in terms of Government, and European funding."

However, Councillor Sahota, said that his authority's track record of providing economic and housing growth is evidence of its success as a standalone council. He said: "As I have previously said, we have absolutely no interest in merging with Shropshire Council, or any other authority.

"Telford & Wrekin Council continues to work with other authorities, including Shropshire Council when it best services the interests of the people of Telford and Wrekin. Examples of this include the youth offending and adoption services.

"Telford & Wrekin Council is currently one of the most successful councils in the country for delivering economic and housing growth.

"We have an economic growth rate almost 50 per cent above the national average, have halved youth unemployment, offer great initiatives such as Telford Loyalty Card and free swimming for over half our population, are keeping all of our libraries open and have opened new ones, are rebuilding or upgrading all of our secondary schools and have huge investment going into our town centres creating hundreds of new jobs, all for one of the lowest council tax levels in the region."

Councillor Sahota warned that uniting the councils would put services at greater risk.

He said: "Being part of a broader Shropshire authority would mean, for example, parking charges being introduced in all our borough towns, many of our initiatives would be axed and our hospital services would become even more vulnerable. Our borough has a very different economy, a population with very different needs and challenges and, most importantly, very different opportunities compared with Shropshire, opportunities that we are now exploiting to benefit the borough, its residents and this council.

"These very stark differences between the two councils only underline the many reasons why any idea of merger is, as long as we are here, simply not going to happen and why we became a unitary authority in 1998. Considering all this, I am not surprised that that Mr Kawczynski looks enviously at Telford & Wrekin as a solution to his and Shropshire Council's problems."