Shropshire Council has announced the introduction of a spending freeze across the council in order to get this year’s budget under control.
Last month the council estimated that it was set to overspend by £6.9m on a gross budget of £561.95m this financial year, with £3m of that coming from children’s services.
It said that extra cash for councils announced in last month’s Budget was not enough to help it balance its books.
“We don’t know how much we will get, as that hasn’t been announced yet, but we know it is a ‘one-off’ rather than in our base budget for next year and the years after.
“Spending freezes delay expenditure on things like buying new equipment, where this can happen. We will of course try to minimise the impact on frontline services.”
Staff will also be encouraged to work more flexibly.
