I was recently asked a question on Facebook about how much debt (loans) Shropshire Council had, and how this compared to Telford and Wrekin council’s debt. This came about from a previous post about concerns that the current Labour government could merge Telford and Wrekin Council with Shropshire Council.
So, for complete transparency:
- The current level of external borrowing (loan debt) at Shropshire Council is £354.905m.
- Based on the last Treasury Management report that went to T&W’s Audit Committee, they had loans of £422.667m.
- There are 250,000 registered voters for Shropshire Council, and 132000 for Telford and Wrekin.
- So, Shropshire has £1419 of debt per voter whereas Telford and Wrekin has £3196 of debt per voter.
- Telford and Wrekin have debt repayments of 9.9% of their net budget, which equates to £17.83m per annum.
Edward Bird - Councillor for Shifnal South and Cosford 