Shropshire Council has revealed its continuing to assess the impact of the funding cuts announced in the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review on services for local people.

Initial estimates show the council will need to save £66 million over the next four years and find £16 million more than originally planned.

The council say that both councillors and senior managers are looking at ways to save money to avoid major impact on essential frontline services.

The approach to the first round of savings includes working more closely with local voluntary and community organisations, cutting back on administrative and management costs, more imaginative ways of working with other local councils, merging staff teams, and making better use of shared resources.

A major report to be considered by the council’s Cabinet next week will set out clear priorities for both investment in some key services and a review of the scope or standards of other services where savings need to be made.

Council Leader, Keith Barrow, said the amount of savings required would inevitably mean the council needed to change the way it worked, such as devolving some services to community organisations. And he said less essential public services would have to be scaled back or stopped altogether in future years, to protect funding for those services local people value most.