SHROPSHIRE Council’s financial problems will mean voluntary redundancies across the authority, its leader has said.

Last week, Shropshire Council agreed a budget that would require £65 million in savings, with a number of serv ices – such as recycling – under threat.

And now Shropshire Council says it is looking into the prospect of welcoming people wanting to take voluntary redundancy – aside from education – in order to identify some of those required savings.

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Shropshire Council Lezley Picton explained the reasons behind the call, blaming an ‘unprecedented’ challenge to finances, among other mitigating circumstances.

“Shropshire Council is facing an unprecedented challenge to its finances, like councils all over the country and this is made even more difficult by our rural geography and older population,” she said.

“In the next financial year we must find £62m of savings, in addition to the £40m that we have saved in this financial year.

“Our plans include increasing our income, reducing spending with third parties, managing the demand for services, reviewing our assets and making sure we are the right size as an organisation to meet our costs with the money we have.

“We have been clear that this means we will be a smaller organisation with fewer people.”

Cllr Picton added that the first step is to accept requests from those wanting to end their employment early while the council still aims to run services effectively.

Sher added: “Starting with a programme of voluntary redundancy is our first step to reach this position, which means giving employees the opportunity to apply to end their contracts in return for a redundancy payment.

“All applications will be carefully considered, to minimise the impact for services and make sure that we are still able to provide essential services that prioritise support for the most vulnerable people in the county.

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“We are working closely with the unions who represent employees at Shropshire Council and they are aware of this approach.”

At Shropshire Council’s full council meeting recently, members agreed measures to make savings, including reducing support for leisure services, reducing the number of recycling centres, moving out of its Shirehall offices and looking at savings in libraries.

Shropshire Council will also consult with communities over whether services, such as libraries and leisure centres, could continue under external control.