Councillors and staff help to shape new council for Shropshire

Councillors and staff from Shropshire County Council and the county’s district and borough councils have been involved in early work on the vision and values for Shropshire’s new unitary council.

A series of interactive events at Shirehall in Shrewsbury involved councillors and staff from the six councils in helping to shape the new council, which will formally start on 1 April 2009.

Those attending were asked to share their views and ideas on a wide range of issues.

Joyce Barrow, Shropshire County Council’s Cabinet member for human resources, who is also a councillor development champion and Oswestry Borough Councillor, said: “The sessions were an excellent opportunity for councillors and staff from all the councils to put forward their views and ideas about what the new council’s priorities and values should be, and how it can best serve the people of Shropshire.

“As councillors we must have our eye firmly set on what the new council needs to look and act like, to help reassure residents that their best interests will lie at the heart of the council’s planning and decision-making,” Joyce Barrow added.

County and North Shropshire District Councillor Chris Mellings, who is also a councillor development champion, said: "This was a well-attended series of events in which there was lots of lively and enthusiastic discussion of what the new council should be about. This willl be a brand new council, and its vision and values will underpin everything that it does.

“It is about creating a council that will be relevant to the needs of local residents, as well as delivering efficient services and value for money,” Chris Mellings added.

The interactive, hands-on sessions were designed and run by the Office for Public Management (OPM).

Feedback collected during the two days will be further developed and consulted on during the transition to the new council, and presented to the political and managerial leadership of the new council.

Staff from the current six councils will transfer to the new council in April 2009, and elections will be held in May 2009.

1 February 2008