This year (2008 – 09) the services that the county council pays for will cost £453m. An additional £420m is spent on schools, but this is funded directly by a grant from central government

Councillors are now beginning to think about future spending priorities and are keen to try and keep Council Tax increase to just 3% this year.

However, you’ve seen the prices you pay for food, lighting and fuel go up – well it’s been costing the council more too. We'd like your views on which services are most important to you.

We’ve experienced rising energy costs in our buildings. The Council runs services from over 500 buildings across the County including offices, libraries, residential homes and youth centres.

We’re also paying more for street lighting, fuels costs and highway maintenance materials.  Plus we’ve seen the costs for the food we serve in schools, day centres and residential homes go up.

In the next year we have to spend more money to meet the rising demand for social care services for some of the most vulnerable people in our society -  older people and adults with a physical disability, learning disability or mental health issues and we’ll be giving greater financial support to independent sector residential care homes.

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