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Welcome to the summer edition of my newsletter on key things happening in Shropshire and in your council, as well as key things we’d like you involved in.
I hope that you find it useful, and please share it. Shropshire is such a great place, and we can achieve so much more if we’re all working together.
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We are passionate about everyone living the best life in Shropshire and that means delivering valued services for our communities and creating the best environment.
How we plan to do this, and the part we need the community and partners to play in this, is set out in our recently adopted Shropshire Plan.
The Shropshire Plan sets out our vision and priorities for the next three years and it will help us focus on things we want to achieve and improve for you in an ever-changing and challenging world.
With our priorities of a healthy population, a healthy economy, and a healthy environment, served by a healthy council, we aim to deliver positive and transformational change for Shropshire.
It’s an exciting time for us. You will be hearing more about the Shropshire Plan and how we are delivering it soon, and I hope you’ll also see the part you can play.
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As the cost of living crisis continues, the next few months are going to be harder for many people in Shropshire in lots of different ways and in October we expect the next unwelcome energy price rise to hit so many who are already hard-pressed.
We are working alongside partners in Citizens Advice, Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance, Marches Energy Agency, Age UK and Community Research to bring together key resources and support available across Shropshire, so you know the best place to get support.
If you are worried about money or are struggling, you are not alone.
The good news is there is help available – click here to see our cost-of-living help webpage which details the help available from us and partner organisations.
Please do not wait to get help.
We, alongside many support organisations, are already seeing a rise in the number of people seeking help and, as winter approaches, we expect to see the numbers increase.
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We have now paid more than 88% of the £150 energy rebates, totalling £14.7 million and we are working hard to process the remaining payments by the end of September.
We’ve also launched some extra help for specific groups among those being hit by rising household costs.
These discretionary payments can help you if you are:
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Claiming council tax support and your home is in a council tax band E-H property.
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A working age adult on council tax support as of 1 April 2022 up to 1 August 2022.
If you are eligible, you do not need to contact us. We will start making discretionary payments before the end of November to those who need it most.
Direct payments will be made where we hold bank details. If we do not have bank details, we will contact you.
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Healthy Start is a scheme which helps families on low incomes with a voucher system to buy fruit, vegetables and milk, and access free vitamins.
Despite the cost of living rising, in Shropshire less than one in three people who qualify, take up Healthy Start support.
If you are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four, you may be entitled. Eligible parents will be sent a Healthy Start card with money on that can be used in named shops to buy these items. It’s never been more important for the most vulnerable families to access the financial support available to them.
Find out more on our cost of living help by clicking on the button below. If you know someone who could qualify, ask them to apply.
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The rising costs of food, fuel and energy bills are affecting us all.
As a council we’re impacted by this too. We estimate that we will need to spend an additional £8-10 million in this financial year on services that are important to you, due to inflation.
These services include things like caring for our most vulnerable residents, emptying your bins, providing school transport and maintaining the county’s roads.
This additional spend is on top of the savings we’ve already made by working in better and more efficient ways.
Despite this, we’re confident that we’re moving in the right direction.
We are now looking at more proposals to help us to achieve our goals as we work to deliver our Shropshire Plan, taking into consideration the challenges we face.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on our budget proposals when we go out to consultation towards the end of the year.
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 A little girl enjoying what the programme has to offer.
I am so delighted that our summer HAF programme is shaping up to be another wonderful success.
School holidays can be a particularly difficult time for some families due to increased food and childcare costs, and reduced incomes. Thanks to this incredible scheme, thousands of children eligible for free school meals have access to free activities and food from 25 July to 2 September.
We are supporting 30 organisations to run 65 HAF programmes to more than 1,800 children and young people across Shropshire. There really is something for everyone from football, cricket and dancing to pizza making, pond dipping and woodwork.
We are all really proud of the HAF scheme here in Shropshire and are already looking forward to the winter programme.
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 Some of the new bins being delivered.
To date we have delivered 38,000 bins to homes in south Shropshire, Bridgnorth, and in the Shrewsbury area - that’s 48% of the 77,000 who’ve ordered the new recycling bin so far.
We’ll soon begin deliveries in the Oswestry area, then move on to north Shropshire.
Phase 2 requests are still open and you can request a bin online by clicking on the button below.
To date, we’ve had 14,000 requests in phase 2 and these will start to be delivered once we have completed phase 1. This is currently estimated to be October, but times can slip due to staff availability.
All addresses included in ‘phase 1’ of deliveries are listed on our new searchable webpage – where you can also see the progress of deliveries, listed by electoral division. This information is updated every weekday.
If you haven’t had your bin yet, please be patient. We’ll get it to you as soon as we can.
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My most recent Meet the Leader session in Bishop’s Castle was great. I met so many passionate people with some excellent ideas.
It was my fourth Meet the Leader session and every time it’s so refreshing to meet people passionate about their communities and wanting to help make Shropshire the best place it can be.
The sessions are friendly and informal and there’s no need to book in advance. I’d love to see you. If you like me to come to your community, let me know.
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Bridgnorth on Thursday 8 September 2022 from 10am until 12pm at Bridgnorth Town Hall.
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Wem on Thursday 17 November 2022 from 10am until 12pm (location to be confirmed)
 My most recent Meet the Leader event in Bishop's Castle.
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The Government has announced a new £100 million funding package to help protect homes which suffer from repeated flooding.
I’m sure you’ll agree that this is extremely welcome. It will make a real difference to our communities which have been affected by flooding three times in the last three years, but where the delivery of flood defence schemes has not yet been possible.
Our flood risk management teams have been working with these communities and there are several locations where, thanks to this funding, these projects can hopefully be accelerated.
Since the devastating flooding in Shropshire in 2020, we have invested heavily in supporting our affected communities. And, through our work with the National Flood Forum, have established over 25 flood action groups in the county.
At this point in time, we do not have information about how we can access this funding. However, as soon as we do, we will be working with the National Flood Forum and our local Environment Agency teams to ensure that communities who are eligible for this funding are put forward.
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 The passing of the baton on the River Severn in Shrewsbury.
I’m pleased to say that the community events staged in Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth last month to celebrate The Queen’s Baton Relay passing though the county were a great success.
Jointly more than 8,000 people are estimated to have enjoyed the celebrations and the two events are estimated to have boosted Shropshire’s economy by around £112,000.
A huge amount of effort went into planning and delivering the community events around the arrival of the relay in Shropshire and my thanks go to everyone involved for making them happen.
Both community events have left a lasting legacy and created opportunities for people to discover how much we can offer people living and working in Shropshire as well as promoting the county to a wider audience.
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July was a busy month for housing, offering us an opportunity to showcase the work we’re undertaking to meet our Housing Strategy priorities.
At the beginning of the month we celebrated Rural Housing Week with several stories, from how we are working with local parish councils to identify the housing needs of our rural communities, to how we and our partners are working together to build and develop a range of new, sustainable and affordable homes.
We’re also currently asking for your views on our draft Empty Homes Strategy to help bring empty homes across the county back into use. Please do take a look and tell us your views by clicking on the 'have your say' button below. Our consultation runs until 18 September 2022.
Myself and local councillor for Bridgnorth and Tasely, Julia Buckley, also recently joined Jane Trethewey our Assistant Director for Homes & Communities and several Board members from Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing (STAR), along with STAR team members, for a tour around STAR’s housing stock in the south of the county yesterday, visiting a number of locations in Much Wenlock, Highley, Bridgnorth, Albrighton and Shifnal, and meeting some residents too. This was a really good opportunity to better understand our housing stock and the issues we face.
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