Shropshire Council’s precarious financial position and the Coronavirus crisis led its finance chief to warn in July that he might have to make a formal declaration (a Section 114 notice) that it didn’t have enough resources to pay for its spending plans this year. Only one Council has resorted to issuing such a notice in recent times, but at least five more have warned that they may have to do so.
Issuing a S114 notice would prevent the Council from entering into any further financing commitments. It could then only spend money on statutory services such as adult social care and roads until an emergency budget is prepared.
Lib Dem campaigner David Oxtoby commented: “Shropshire Council’s financial position has been perilous for years. The government has been cutting funding for a decade, and rising demand for social care has put a huge strain on the budget. Add a number of poor decisions made by this inept Conservative administration and matters seem to be coming to a crisis.”
Shropshire Council are due to give a further update on their financial position in September