Buckinghamshire County Council backs £9.2m of cuts

Proposals to cut jobs and services at Buckinghamshire County Council to help save £9.2m have been backed by councillors.

The council says the savings are needed after a cut in the government grant to the local authority.

The budget, backed by a meeting of the full council, includes a £5.4m cut to children and young people services.

The savings include a £226,000 cut in the funding of child protection and assessment staffing.

But the council is hoping to avoid compulsory job losses.

The council is also using up to £1.2m from contingency funds to help ease pressures from the cuts on children's safeguarding services.

'Difficult decision'

Council leader David Shakespeare said the savings were vital.

He said: "The bottom line is that if we fail in our duty to deal with this emerging situation now, we would simply be guaranteeing having to make bigger and deeper cuts to public services because of the delay.

"While others may shy away from the difficult decision, we have to take responsibility for dealing with the situation now, and however regrettable some of these reductions may be, we have to take decisive action on behalf of our taxpayers."

The council's budget for 2010/2011 is £303m.

The council also backed savings of £541,000 in the council's adults and family wellbeing services.

This will include reductions in budgets for new library books, support for carers and care for older people in their homes.