Government issues Shropshire Council with notice to take action

The Government has issued Shropshire Council with a formal notice, saying that action is necessary to address various concerns.

In a letter to chief executive Tanya Miles, James Blythe (deputy director for Local Government stewardship and interventions) said that ministers remain concerned as to the council’s capacity to comply with its Best Value Duty.

Therefore, the local authority has been issued with a Best Value Notice, with leaders told that action is necessary to address concerns “transparently and at pace”.

The notice will be place until the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) confirms otherwise, and will be reviewed after 12 months.

Mr Blythe said the MHCLG have significant concerns about the council’s financial sustainability.

This, he said, is due to:

• The significant deterioration of the council’s assessment of its financial
• position since its receipt of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) for 2024/25
• in February 2025.
• The external auditor’s annual report 2024/25 published in November 2025, which included a statutory recommendation relating to financial sustainability and identified significant weaknesses in value for money arrangements.
• The Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) completed by the Local Government Association (LGA) in July 2025.
• The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) assessment (as part of the independent assurance review carried out in May 2026 as a condition of the council’s EFS agreement) of a historic pattern of weak financial management and internal controls, and previous failures to deliver on savings targets. The review recognises the recent commitment of the council to improvement but notes significant risks around the council’s budget gap which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Mr Blythe added that there are also concerns around leadership capacity, governance, scrutiny and culture identified by the CPC and CIPFA reports.

“The council has engaged constructively with us about the challenges it faces, including during the process for EFS,” said Mr Blythe.

“However, given the seriousness of the issues identified, and the pace needed to deliver the level of change required, we are setting out its expectations of the council in providing assurance of progress.”

My Blythe said the council should:

• Continue taking urgent steps to improve its financial sustainability, ensuring
• robust plans are in place and the council takes all appropriate action to
• manage financial risk and to support its financial recovery, including delivering
• against the recommendations made by the May 2026 independent external
• assurance review, and providing associated updates as requested by the department.
• Continue to increase senior officer capacity and stability, by making
• permanent appointments in a robust and timely manner.
• Continue to address external audit findings, including the timely implementation of the statutory recommendation.
• Ensure effective governance and scrutiny processes are in place that enable
• decisions and improvements to be made at pace, and performance to be
• accurately monitored.
• Engage with the department on at least a quarterly basis to discuss progress
• against the actions.

Mr Blythe warned Ms Miles that, while the council may continue to receive and be awarded government funding while under the notice, that receipt does not indicate its broader view of its performance and it would not indicate any change in the status of the notice, with individual funding programmes being managed and assured independently by the respective departments.

Mr Blythe added that a failure to demonstrate continuous improvement may be judged to contribute to Best Value failure, and the Secretary of State will consider using their statutory powers as appropriate.

He noted that the council has already engaged the support of the LGA, and encouraged them to continue to make use of that.

Councillor Heather Kidd, leader of Shropshire Council, said: “This notice underlines the seriousness of the council’s position inherited from the previous Conservative administration.

“When we took over last year, we found the finances in a far worse position than we expected and immediately called in the LGA to do a complete review.

“This notice builds on the data uncovered by the LGA and other studies to show the magnitude of the challenge facing us but also recognises the many steps we are taking to rectify the situation.

“A lot is already in train this year and has been recognised by MHCLG”.

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