Shropshire Council: local authority assessment
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Assessment published: 28 February 2025
About Shropshire Council
Demographics
Shropshire Council is a Unitary Authority in the West Midlands with a population of 323,600 people (Census 2021). The area covered by Shropshire Council is mostly rural with 98% of the county classified as rural and 57% of the population living in rural settlements. This creates challenges of accessing transport networks in the rural areas. On the Index of Multiple Deprivation, Shropshire was ranked 101st out of 153 local authorities in England (with 1 being the most deprived), making it one of England’s lesser deprived areas, however, there are pockets of deprivation and rural isolation within the county.
The population is 49.5% male and 50.5% female. Approximately 18% are aged 0-17 years, approximately 56% are aged 18-64 years and approximately 26% are over 65. There is expected to be a significant growth in numbers of residents aged 85 and over by 2030, to over 15,245, which is 4,422 more than reported at the time of the 2021 census.
The population of Shropshire is predominantly white, over 96% of the population is listed as white with under 4% Black Asian and Minority Ethnic groups.
Shropshire Council is located within the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care System.
The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2005. The children and adults’ directorates merged in October 2021 under the Executive Director of People who is also the Director of Adult Social Care.
Financial facts
- The Local Authority estimated that in 2023/24, its total budget would be £437,416,000. Its actual spend for that year was £492,157,000 which was £54,741,000 more than estimated.
- The Local Authority estimated that it would spend £137,744,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24 Its actual spend was £152,557,000, which is £14,813,000 more than estimated.
- In 2023/2024, 31% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
- The Local Authority has raised the full Adult Social Care precept for 2023/24, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through Adult Social Care precept varies from Local Authority to Local Authority.
- Approximately 4595 people were accessing long-term Adult Social Care support, and approximately 1885 people were accessing short-term Adult Social Care support in 2022/23. Local authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.