Telford & Wrekin Council leader argues for more funding

Councillor Shaun Davies said Telford & Wrekin Council will continue to lobby for fairer funding for the borough.

It came as the council approved a package of new using £3.9m of savings but were criticised by the borough's Conservative leader for an £6.1m overspend in early help and support which provides care and adult services and a further £4.1m overspend on children's safeguarding, both of which have been a consistent pressure for the authority, which has cut its budget by about £10 million in recent years.

At the meeting, Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for finance, praised officers for managing the "reducing" budget well.

The programme of projects using the savings, which was approved by members at the meeting today at Addenbrooke House, will include £750,000 to improve car parking on estates £600,000 to support the council’s Job Box programme to help tackle youth unemployment and to extend this for a further two years. The Job Box programme has already helped halve youth unemployment in the borough

A further £500,000 combined with unused funding from the council’s earlier Pride in Your High Streets scheme this will be used to create a £700,000 funding pot to support High Streets in key borough towns.

This money will be used for improvements to things such as CCTV, create more public WiFi spots, road improvements and bringing empty retail units back into use.

It has already been announced that £400,000 will be spent on a new state of the art 3G football and multi sports pitch, new changing rooms and improved community facilities at the Telford Ski & Snowboard Centre in Madeley, while £100,000 will be used to improve rights of way across the borough.

The project received support from Liberal Democrat leader, Councillor Bill Tomlinson but he said that children and adult services were "constant" pressures for the council and that the government needed to recognise that further cuts to local authority funding will lead to cuts "to things that should not be cut".

The issue was also discussed during a later cabinet item where members approved a new homeless strategy in a bid to eradicate rough sleeping in the borough, where Councillor Tomlinson said he again welcomed the plans but said the cost would continue to stretch the budget.

Councillor Davies said: "We will continue to make the case for fairer funding for the borough.

"It is never appropriate to make cuts that will affect vulnerable children and adults."