Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council has announced a major package of support for residents facing cost‑of‑living pressures.

The Government has awarded the council £3.67 million per year for three years from the new Crisis and Resilience Fund. The fund is designed to help people who are struggling with essential living costs or experiencing a sudden drop in income, but support is not limited to those receiving benefits. A further £758,558 of additional funding has been made available to support rural households that rely on heating oil.

Help is available for a wide range of essential costs, including food, water, housing costs, energy bills (including heating oil and other fuels), clothing, school uniforms, household items such as beds and appliances, hygiene products, transport costs, and digital essentials like broadband or phone bills. Support is open to families with children, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, disabled residents, single‑person households and those facing one-off financial shocks.

Council Leader Heather Kidd said: “We know that many households across Shropshire are really feeling the strain, and our priority is to make sure no one is left to face these challenges alone. This funding allows us to provide practical support to people when they need it most, and we are committed to working with our community partners to ensure help is easy to access and reaches those who need it.”

Shropshire Council will continue to provide free school meal holiday vouchers over Easter and May half‑term in 2026, although national rules mean wider mass voucher schemes – such as school holiday vouchers - cannot be delivered under the new fund.

Working with voluntary and community partners, the council is expanding access to budgeting help, benefits advice, and practical assistance to increase income. Additional programmes include financial skills sessions in libraries, support for victims of economic abuse, energy‑efficiency advice, and the extension of the county’s Warm Welcome scheme, which provides community spaces to meet and reduce isolation.

 Residents can also access help through the council’s community and family hubs, which offer a range of services including early help for families, housing advice, domestic abuse support and much more. Shropshire Local teams will continue to provide support in areas where face‑to‑face access is more difficult.

Residents can apply or find out more by calling 0345 678 9078 or by visiting a Shropshire Local site in person. Anyone with an application already in progress before 1st April 2026 does not need to reapply.

The Labour Government is attempting to force councils to collect a third bin, specifically for food waste, that must be collected separately from all other forms of household waste. However, they are providing no funding for this service.

Many councils plan well into the future when commissioning waste contracts but this is an additional piece of legislation that the government is pushing through without checking with councils what the state of their existing contracts are. The Labour Government will not be providing any assistance or monetary funding to support councils with this additional collection. Following conversations with Shropshire Council's waste management provider, the expected additional cost looks to be £3.6 million per year. 

Despite Shropshire Council's improving financial picture, following a new Lib Dem budget, there is not £3.6 million currently going spare and as such, without support, the Government's new demands will seriously harm the future of the council.

Shropshire Council Leader Heather Kidd said: "Shropshire Council is in a far better position financially despite 16 years of Conservative mismanagement but that does not mean we're completely out of the woods. The Government's lack of support and the expense of the roll out of this additional collection across such a vast geographical area could sink the council and undo all the hard decisions made and good work done by this Liberal Democrat administration". 

 

Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council is embarking on a series of initiatives across the county to reduce or eliminate flooding at a number of well-known problem roads.

Lib Dem Councillor Tom Dainty, Deputy Portfolio Holder for Highways, explained, “Flooding on roads not only makes driving dangerous but frequently damages the surface of the road.The changes in our weather patterns over the last decade or so due to climate change has resulted in much greater volumes of water coming onto our highways during adverse weather conditions, especially in the repeated storms we have seen during autumn and winter.

“To combat this Shropshire Council is establishing several local partnerships with landowners and agencies with land adjacent to our highways”.

One early example is in Battlefield, North Shrewsbury where one of the county’s vital routes suffers from excess water on the roads during storms.

Here the Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council has worked with Shropshire Wildlife Trust to implement 23 leaky wood barriers across Battlefield Wetland that will hold back 1690 Cubic Metres of Water, which is 600 cubic metres more than is held in the Quarry swimming pool. The local landowner has said that fields that have always flooded since he was a boy now no longer flood and during high rainfall the water doesn't reach the road. 

Tom concluded, “This project signals a proactive approach to taking control of our highways and dealing with water in a sustainable way. Over the next year will see further projects in rural areas to see if Natural Flood Management can help answer questions regarding flooding that we've struggled with for so long.

“It's important to note that we are working with landowners and farmers, the models we create must fit with their existing business and not destroy productive land.”

These are the thoughts of the new Lib Dem administration, embracing change and new ways to do things, not just presiding over the managed decline of our road network.
 

Cleobury Mortimer Sports and Fitness Centre has been spared, thanks to the tireless efforts of local volunteers and Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council. The previous Conservative administration had marked the centre for closure.

Teme Leisure has opted to continue running the centre to the end of July 2027, ensuring that Cleobury Mortimer Sports and Fitness Centre will remain open and fully operational until the start of the new county-wide leisure contract in August 2027. This means the centre will remain open long into the future. The centre is a key asset for the community and the Lib Dem administration is working hard to ensure that communities have the resources they need to continue to prosper.

The Lib Dem leader of Shropshire Council, Heather Kidd, said: "We are determined that despite the financial pressures at Shropshire Council, we are here to help, we will do everything we can to protect the things that are precious to our residents and communities".

The Friends of Cleobury Sports and Fitness Centre, Shropshire Council, Cleobury Mortimer Town Council and Teme Leisure working together have shown that partnership is the way to achieve great things for local areas; mindless cuts aren't the appropriate way to get Shropshire right again, as had been pursued in the past.

Local resident and Town Councillor Ben Williams said: "The community here in Cleobury had been determined not to lose this centre despite the fact they were told it was hopeless. I have only been on the Town Council since January and the level of work that had already gone into creating a future plan was staggering; thankfully, the new administration at Shropshire Council was willing to listen and happy to help".

Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council is stepping up its efforts to fix the county’s roads over the next few weeks using two Roadmaster vehicles that can repair most potholes in under an hour.

The two Roadmaster vehicles operate across Shropshire during the spring and summer months. The Roadmasters are specialised tools designed for road maintenance, particularly for fixing potholes and other imperfections through a spray injection patching technique.

David Vasmer, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and environment, said:

“We are determined to get on top of the pothole problem, which has been made worse by the recent wet and cold weather – a situation faced by other councils across the country

“The Roadmasters help us to repair potholes quickly to a high standard, and they therefore make a huge difference to our rural roads.

“Along with the work of our pothole teams, and our work to surface dress and resurface roads across the county, the Roadmasters will play a big role in our efforts to reduce the backlog of pothole repairs.

“People can also help us by reporting any potholes that they spot.”

The Roadmasters first prepare the area and then inject a blend of aggregate (small stones or chippings) and binder into the defect at high velocity.

The repair is compacted and sealed with a surface dressing. This approach aims to be efficient, economical, and to create a long-lasting repair, while reducing both disruption and costs in comparison to conventional methods.

By sealing cracks and tackling minor defects, the Roadmaster can help prevent new potholes forming.

You can see one of Shropshire's Roadmasters in action in this video.

To report a pothole use the FixMyStreet app or visit the Shropshire Council website – www.shropshire.gov.uk/highways.

Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council has announced a 12-week grace period for Blue Badge renewals following a sharp rise in demand and ongoing funding pressures from central government.

Applications for Blue Badges in Shropshire have significantly increased over the last five years, reflecting an ageing population and greater awareness of eligibility. Over the same period, government funding for local authorities has reduced significantly, leaving councils to manage rising demand with fewer resources.

The council recognises that this has led to unacceptable delays for some residents who rely on a Blue Badge to maintain their independence and access essential services.

To support residents while improvements are put in place, the council will introduce a 12-week grace period for existing Blue Badge holders who apply to renew before their badge expires. During this period, expired badges will continue to be recognised while applications are processed.

In addition, the council is recruiting an extra member of staff to the Blue Badge team to increase capacity and speed up decision-making, helping to restore a reasonable and reliable service for residents.

Councillor Alex Wagner, Shropshire Council’s deputy leader, said:

“Blue Badges are vitally important for mobility and independence. Due to a significant growth in the number of applications over the last few years, processing times have been badly impacted, and we have decided we need a change in approach to deal with this.

“We are taking action by introducing a 12-week grace period for renewals from the Blue Badge’s expiry date. Our aim is to deliver a fair and reasonable service that residents can rely on. We have also hired an additional member of staff to help us process applications more quickly.

“In practice, this means Shropshire Council will allow the continued use of the expired Blue Badge for 12 weeks after the Blue Badge expiry date only on Shropshire Council car parks and our other Council locations. The grace period commences today (Thursday 12 March 2026).

“This is not a perfect fix, but we hope it will go some way to ensuring resident’s entitled to a Blue Badge can maintain their independence and access council car parks and facilities across our markets towns and villages.”

The council continues to press the government for sustainable long-term funding for local services, including statutory schemes such as Blue Badges, to ensure that growing demand can be met properly in future.

Alex added:

“Despite an increase in applications and limited resources, our current processing time for a Blue Badge is 11 weeks, which is the shortest it has been for quite a while.”

Residents are reminded to apply for their renewal in good time – 12 weeks or more – before their Blue Badge expires and to ensure all supporting information is provided to avoid further delays.

Residents are further reminded that penalty charge notices will still be issued for other parking contraventions and where a Blue Badge is not being used correctly (e.g. time clock usage). This local arrangement does not apply to parking locations operated by private business owners, for example Barker Steet car park in Shrewsbury, who are entitled to set their own rules and could still enforce charges for outdated Blue Badges.

More information about Blue Badges is available in person through the Shropshire Local Team. Please bring supporting documents with you as this will best help the team to provide timely support to you. Information about how to apply is available here.

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Applications received per year

•    2020/21: 6,290
•    2021/22: 7,186
•    2022/23: 8,604
•    2023/24: 8,763
•    2024/25: 9,319