Massive cost of council cuts revealed

The cost of axing more than 180 jobs during the shake-up of Shropshire's six major councils is £11.5 million, it was revealed today.

At least 182 workers will be made redundant when the county moves to unitary in April.

And the redundancy bill, most of which has already been met, is a total of £11.5million – £6.7million on direct redundancy costs and £4.8 million on extra pension payments.

Councils in Shropshire also face losses of about £1.5 million because of the recession, with authorities losing cash from land charges, investment income and fees.

However, county residents will enjoy a colossal £140 million windfall over the next 10 years because of the creation of a unitary authority. That works out at around 11 per cent of the annual council tax bill.

Today Laura Rowley, Shropshire County Council Director of Resources, said: "The redundancy bill is a one-off and most has already been met by existing councils. The benefit of a unitary authority is £14 million every single year. It's a vast saving."

Councillor Malcolm Pate, leader of Shropshire County Council, said the new-look unitary authority was good news and people would enjoy a council tax freeze.

He said: "There will be less bureaucracy, less red tape and less inefficiency. However, there will be more services, better value for money and better performances across the board."

Councillor Pate added no frontline staff had been made redundant, with the axe falling in areas like administration, accounts and legal departments. He said: "We had hoped to save £9.8 million by creating a unitary authority. However, we have managed to find an extra few million pounds, taking the total to £14 million.

"Those savings have been made without taking out any frontline staff, like teachers, librarians, social workers. Virtually all of the redundancies are being made voluntarily. There's also a zero per cent council tax rise for next year."

The council is pumping an extra £7.3 million into services with cash being spent on concessionary fares, swimming, street cleaning and children's services. The new Shropshire Council will have an annual budget around £550 to £600 million.

Special report by Andy Richardson