Kent CC: £60m budget cuts may force redundancies

Kent CC faces job losses after announcing plans to make £60m spending cuts next year, while keeping its commitment to freeze council tax for the third year running.

County Hall's ruling Conservative administration insists the draft spending plans - now out for an eight-week public consultation - will safeguard services for the most vulnerable while tackling the financial pressures caused by the Government’s squeeze on council spending.

Kent CC's leader Paul Carter stressed that many of the savings would come from reforms to service delivery.

Mr Carter said: 'Time and again, we have demonstrated that if you bring fresh, innovative thinking to how we go about delivering our business – with elected councillors working alongside our experienced staff – you can find new ways to protect services and keep bills low.

'In almost every area of life people are working differently or using new technology to make things easier. Councils must do that too and I'm proud that Kent is leading the way. Every penny we can save is a penny that remains in the pockets of the people of Kent,' he added.

However he conceded the impact of the massive spending cuts for 2012/13 would not be painless.

'Of course some tough decisions have to be taken. All councils are facing unprecedented cuts to their funding as the Government tackles the national deficit, and that situation isn’t going to change in coming years. If we did nothing to tackle our spending, in four years time Kent CC would require a 42% rise in council tax to keep services running,' he added.

Kent residents have until 1 November to give their views on the draft budget before councillors take a final decision on the plans in early 2013.