THE General Election has resulted in a delay in discovering how much money Shropshire Council will get from Central Government.

But it is known that the cost of adult social care will increase from £8 million to £10 million, partly due to the ageing population.

At the other end of the scale the cost of children’s services will rise by £5 million.

Shropshire Council has launched a consultation on next year’s budget and seeks to plug a £14m hole in the 2020/21 budget.

Basic council tax will go up by 3.99 per cent including two per cent for adult social care.

The West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner is consulting on a 2.94 per cent increase.

Fire and Ludlow Town Council precepts are not yet announced.

It is a legal requirement that the council has a balanced budget.

Shropshire Council says the plan is to plug the £14m gap through innovation and transformation to create new models of delivery across the council.

Over the last four years the Council’s net budget has fallen from £216m to £214m.

This is the sum available to spend on social care, roads and other projects.

It excludes ring fenced funding for schools and grants from central government and the EU.

The budget is being further eroded by inflation and rising wage costs.

Four years ago, 55 per cent of the net budget was funded by council tax (£119m) but by 2019/20 that had grown to 72 per cent (£154m).

The amount by which council tax rise is capped by the government. A four per cent rise will raise under £6m.

Shropshire council would have to hold a referendum if it wanted to increase the Council tax in excess of the cap.

“There are a lot of politics in the way Shropshire Council is funded,” said Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow North, who added that he was not optimistic about a large pay out.