Yesterday, Shropshire Council finally said the number out loud.
£195 million.
A four-year funding gap so large it should have triggered resignations, emergency scrutiny, and a public explanation of who authorised what.
Instead, residents were offered spreadsheets, inevitability, and silence.
Still no meaningful mention of Cornovii Developments Ltd.
Still no ownership.
Still no accountability.
Then came the more revealing document — not for the public, but for internal consumption.
The Staff Lullaby
On 21 January 2026, the Interim Chief Executive circulated a Staff Weekly Update.
Its purpose was not explanation.
Its purpose was calm.
Staff were told the £195 million figure — and immediately reassured:
• This is not your fault
• This is structural
• This is government funding
• This is rural unfairness
• Leadership is “doing everything we can”
No mass compulsory redundancies.
Recruitment continues in places.
Transformation will save us.
This was not transparency.
It was a sedative.
Two Audiences, Two Stories
The council now operates a dual-reality system.
Public version:
Hard choices. Difficult years. No alternatives.
Staff version:
You are blameless. Leadership is competent. The problem is external.
What links both stories is not honesty — it is careful omission.
Cornovii: The Company That Never Appears
Once again, Cornovii Developments Ltd does not exist.
Not in Cabinet papers.
Not in staff briefings.
Not in the explanation of how this council reached a £195 million hole.
A wholly council-owned property company.
Designed by officers.
Approved by councillors.
Loaded with tens of millions in public exposure.
Erased from the narrative as thoroughly as if it were a typo.
This is not oversight.
It is institutional vanishing.
Who Built the Risk
Cornovii Developments Ltd did not appear by accident.
It sat squarely within:
• Mark Barrow’s former portfolio as Director of Place
• Andy Begley’s tenure as Chief Executive
• Cabinet decisions signed off by elected members
• A culture that preferred reassurance to challenge
This risk was:
Designed.
Approved.
Defended.
And then quietly forgotten.
That is not misfortune.
That is governance failure.
Leadership Without Ownership
Cllr Heather Kidd, as Leader of Shropshire Council, presides over an administration that now describes collapse without authors.
Leadership means:
Owning decisions.
Naming failures.
Explaining risk.
It does not mean blaming weather, Westminster, or demographics while your own company disappears from the story.
Transformation: The Last Refuge
Staff are promised:
Transformation.
Prevention.
Partnerships.
Capital reviews.
Income generation.
These words appear when organisations wish to move on without looking back.
Transformation is easier than admission.
Prevention is easier than reversal.
Partnership is easier than accountability.
The Question They Refuse to Answer
If Cornovii Developments Ltd was such a good idea, why is it never mentioned when the bill arrives?
Because £195 million didn’t vanish.
It was signed off, tolerated, and politely erased.
And that silence tells you everything.
The Alternative Council 