An improving council

What the proposal says

What this would mean for North Shropshire

25. There is strong evidence that a unitary council would provide the basis for significant improvements in major areas of service delivery through simpler and better access to services, an increased user focus and more efficient delivery on the ground.

26. Better strategic planning and procurement would bring considerable economies of scale and ensure equality in service provision and minimum service standards throughout the county.

27. Local people's top priorities, determined via our integrated community planning process are very clear.  Yet, whilst proud of the integrated community strategy and joined up working shown by the Local Area Agreement, the process is very time consuming needing prolonged negotiation.  Likewise, negotiations to create an integrated waste management service have taken seven years and still 30% of the county's collection service remains outside the integrated contract.

28. Every major priority service area has been reviewed and this submission shows how a unitary council would be able to deliver further improvements above and beyond what has proved possible within the competing objectives and varied capacity of the 2-tier framework.

25-28. A single council for Shropshire would equalise services across the County (see section 32 for Council Tax).

A flavour of how North Shropshire District Council services compare now
- we have the second-highest recycling rate in the county
- satisfaction with the cleanliness of the streets is not as high as in South Shropshire or Oswestry
- The majority of car parking spaces are free in North Shropshire but in the other districts in Shropshire the majority of car parking spaces carry charges
- we require a larger proportion of developments to be for affordable than Oswestry or Bridgnorth but not as large a proportion as South Shropshire
-last year, based on Government figures for overall performance, North Shropshire performed better than in previous years but it is not the best performing Council in Shropshire across teh full range of services

By working in partnership, the North Shropshire District Council currently delivers improvements to a range of services

We would like to lnow what extent you agree that the equalising of services across the county would benefit North Shropshire? (Q8 in the question booklet)