Newsroom Archive

This is the scale of the Council’s capital investment as part of its budget to help protect, care and invest to create a better borough.

A report to the Council’s cabinet shows how it plans to invest into a range of new assets to boost the borough’s infrastructure and attract more business and growth up to 2023. This investment includes:

•A new four year £60 million growth fund to continue to support and invest in new businesses and houses for rent, helping create new Council owned assets while also earning a return and covering costs. This would be investing in new Council owned premises to let for businesses and building new homes for private rent and some at affordable rent

•£4 million in a contingency fund that could be used for initiatives to include reducing the Council’s carbon footprint and supporting the Sustainable Telford and Wrekin initiative. This follows the Council declaring a climate emergency, and pledged to go carbon neutral by 2030, as well as removing single-use plastics by 2023.

•£5 million for regeneration of borough town High Streets including Dawley, Ironbridge, Madeley, Newport, Oakengates and Wellington.

•£16 million for improvements to roads, footpaths, bridges and other structures

•£5 million for a range of environmental improvements

At the same time, the Council is planning to spend an extra £9 million next year on the day to day costs of social care.

All of the extra funding generated by Telford & Wrekin’s 3.99% increase in council tax, is worth about £2.7 million and will be used to contribute towards the increased investment in Adult Social Care.

Cllr Lee Carter, cabinet member for finance, said: “In the current climate where council funding continues to reduce and pressures on day to day services such as social care increase, it is vital that we continue to invest in our borough’s future.

“To secure investment to create a better borough on this scale in such a tough financial climate for councils is a phenomenal achievement and is only possible due to our long track record of sound financial management.

“We will continue to create the right environment to ensure that businesses invest and grow in our borough, which itself helps create more resources for day to day services such as social care.”

Council leader Shaun Davies added: “This is another indication of the careful and responsible approach we continue to take, using our investment into the borough to help services that care and protect our most vulnerable residents.

“We are investing in areas that will ultimately help to generate more funding for vital council services such as social care.”