Shropshire Council given less Government cash

Shirehall bosses today confirmed that Shropshire Council has been given less money from the Government than expected.

The total draft grant settlement for next year is £108 million.

The council is still working on making total savings over four years of £76 million - including £10 million already made in this current financial year.

Council chief executive Kim Ryley said today it was still working through the details of the draft settlement.

"Whilst significant savings need to be made, it is not thought that these will be greater than had been planned for," said Mr Ryley.

"The financial planning that has been done for 2011/2012 should still be adequate to meet the needs of the draft statement."

He added: "Our initial view is that, whilst the funding is even lower than our earlier expectations, we have already planned for this possibility in our spending reduction targets."

Meanwhile, Telford & Wrekin Council is facing grant cuts of about £17 million over the next two years, £12 million worth of the reduction coming next year.

Telford & Wrekin was given £84 million, when last year it received £101 million, and spokesman Nigel Newman said the figures left the council facing grant cuts over the next four years of around £25 million.