There are only two honest ways to respond to a financial crisis. You either take less yourself — or you become very clever indeed. Shropshire Council has tried both. Just not at the same time. 2011: When Councillors Went First At a full meeting of Shropshire Council in January 2011, during the early austerity period,Continue reading “When the Money Ran Out: A Tale of Two Councils (and One Missing Opposition)”
Tag Archives: local-government
Snouts First, Public Last
When Pain Was Shared, Not Shelved In 2011, Council Leader Keith Barrow stood at the despatch box and told Shropshire councillors that “there is going to be pain and we should all take our share of it.” He promptly sliced councillors’ allowances by 5%, cut mileage rates, and asked officers to consider reducing the totalContinue reading “Snouts First, Public Last”
No More Excuses. No More HMOs
It’s Time for Section 4 – and It’s Time Our Councillors Grew a Spine It’s not complicated. Oswestry doesn’t need more HMOs. It doesn’t need absentee landlords stuffing vulnerable or unknown individuals into former family homes. And it certainly doesn’t need councillors who’ve chosen careerism and cowardice over public safety and common sense. Where IsContinue reading “No More Excuses. No More HMOs”
The Gatekeepers of Silence: Shropshire’s Transparency Dream Team
The Transparency Tango: A Two-Council Performance in Delayed Disclosure Let us distil this for the public record: This, my friends, is not administration. It is performance art. And the recurring theme? Transparency is a threat to the system. Act I: Shropshire Council’s FOI Vanishing Act On 1 March 2025, a Freedom of Information request wasContinue reading “The Gatekeepers of Silence: Shropshire’s Transparency Dream Team”
The Alternative Council 