NEWSROOM

The Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Lee Carter, said:

“We welcome this positive step by the new Government to start to fix local authority finances, after 15 years of underfunding, which have resulted in overall cuts of £177.5m from Telford & Wrekin Council’s budget during that time.

“It is reassuring that the Government is looking to reverse this and in addition has promised to give more long-term certainty to our funding. That will enable us to continue to make sure we protect care and invest in the things that matter most to Telford and Wrekin residents; attracting business, helping to provide new jobs, giving residents access to the best skills and training, investing in expanding local schools, better public transport with £2 fares on buses, protecting our fantastic green spaces, ensuring our neighbourhoods are clean and well maintained, maintaining green waste collections at no charge to residents, free car parking on most Council owned car parks and ensuring Telford and Wrekin’s Council Tax remains the lowest in the Midlands and amongst the lowest in the country.

“I would best describe the announcement as a good first step on the long road to recovery – the challenges still remain huge at least 70p in every pound of our budget being spent on vital social services, and whilst the announcement from Government is good news we still need to have the same robust management of our finances that have served us and our residents well over the last 15 years.”