Cuts are on the cards for county council

West Sussex County Council’s cabinet will consider budget proposals, including which of its proposed savings it will take forward, following the government’s recent announcement on local authority funding for the coming year.

Cabinet will discuss savings plans at its meeting on 22 January.

The savings which cabinet will consider for removal are:

■ Review of Lifelong Services day services

■ measures to reduce the amount of DIY waste presented at Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRS)

■ review of the HWRS network

■ Review of public transport support

■ reduction in additional bus pass access for specific groups including companion passes or users with a registered disability.

■ Local bus subsidy changes Starting in January the council’s scrutiny committees will review individual savings proposals as they develop.

It’s expected that several public consultations will also start once final proposals are settled so members of the public can have their say on how the proposed savings may affect them.

Paul Marshall, leader of West Sussex County Council, said: “As you know this year has been extremely challenging for us, as for all local authorities, both in terms of the usual level of demand for our services but intensified by the pandemic we have all been working so hard to respond to.

“As such we had significant savings to make in order to ensure we deliver a balanced budget for 2021/22.

“Now government has set out what funding it will provide to local authorities for the coming year, and what parameters it is putting around council tax, we are able to review the list of proposed savings for the coming year.

“This means we will be able to remove some of the savings we originally proposed in order to mitigate, as best we can, the impact of these challenging financial times, on our residents.”