Shropshire Council workforce shrinks by 1,000 over six years

The council’s cabinet will be presented with a paper at its meeting next week, which shows the number of full-time equivalent staff at the authority.

Although the number has dropped from 3,552, in 2013 to 2,540 now, it is a slight increase from the 2,474 two years ago.

The papers also confirm that the council is forecasting a near £8 million overspend in the current financial year.

Tom Dodds, intelligence and insight manager, said: “The projected revenue forecast for the year at quarter one, shows a potential overspend of £7.955m on a gross budget of £568.489m.

"Historically the quarter one forecast is for a high level of overspend, which reflects uncertainty and caution around the delivery of the required savings.

“Management actions are required to deliver the savings and to arrive at a balanced budget.

“The number of full time equivalent employees as at the end of quarter one is 2,540 compared 2,547 as at quarter four 2018/19.”

Complaints

Meanwhile, the number of corporate complaints has remained similar to the previous quarter and lower than the same quarter in 2018/19.

There were 1,281 complaints received in 2018/19, with 1,119 in 2017/18 and 922 in 2016/17.

Complaints increased by 14 per cent between 2017/18 and 2018/19.

Mr Dodds added: “Annual data suggests an increase in the overall number of complaints, but this can fluctuate each quarter.

“Corporate complaints are predominantly linked to complaints about highways and waste management.

“There were nine statutory children’s complaints within the quarter and due to the small numbers it is hard to determine any patterns within the data.

“Numbers of statutory adult complaints have decreased in the last three quarters.

“The number of compliments Shropshire Council has recorded within its customer feedback system remains fairly steady over the last few quarters.”