Devolution to parishes 'could save millions'

The deputy leader of Shropshire Council has said that plans to devolve power to town and parish councils would keep services going, and may mean smaller authorities do a better job.

Shropshire Council has invited them to take over services such as road cleaning, street lighting and public bins.

Last week, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Oswestry town council, Jay Moore, quit the party, saying the plans were "double taxation".

"It isn't just about keeping services how they are, it's about doing them differently, improving them, taking them back in house and having that local control over how they're delivered," said Alex Wagner, who is also a Shrewsbury town councillor.

The potential move comes as Shropshire Council is seeking to make significant cuts to its budget, to avoid the risk of overspending and potentially becoming effectively bankrupt.

A third of the 153 town and parish councils have so far said they would be willing.

"Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Shifnal and Broseley, and there are some others like Bridgnorth and Ludlow, Whitchurch, who've signalled really clear interest," Wagner told the BBC.

He said the Lib Dem-run authority was looking to start pilot schemes in the next few months to "figure out how it works".

"There's a big spectrum of how you can do it, you can invest some of your own money in looking after existing land without a contract, but if you want to, you can look at that full-scale devolution, and we're looking at doing that on a bigger scale next year," he said.

"We're looking at making sure it reforms how the way the whole of our highways contract works."

Wagner said savings could be "in the millions" if there was a large take-up of the work.

"In Shrewsbury we could be looking at whole scale delegation, having it all done in-house, taking money off contractors… giving it to the town council, the town may be investing some of their own money improving that service," he said

"In Oswestry, we're just looking at those green spaces, footpaths, some of those core tasks to improve the town.

"In Shifnal and Broseley, we're just looking at enhancing our offer and working in partnership," he said.

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