Lincolnshire County Council plans to cut budget and raise tax

The proposed budget cuts will be voted on by the full council later this month

Lincolnshire County Council has voted to cut next year's budget by £42m and raise council tax by 3.95%.

The decision was made by the authority's executive committee and will go before the full council for final approval later this month.

If approved, the plans could see cuts to 160 bus services across the county.

The proposals would also see a reduction in the funding for adult social services, children's services and Police Community Support Officers.

Councillor Marc Jones, for the Conservatives, said the figures could change as the authority was still waiting for details of its central government grant but the executive committee had "reluctantly agreed" to a reduction in the budget.

'Important services'

Mr Jones said he understood public concerns over the effect of the proposed £2m budget reduction on bus subsidies.

"We're proud of our work making sure that we retain the high level of bus service that we can," he said.

"What we've got to do is balance that with the needs of all the other services."

Rob Parker, from the Labour group on the authority, said the responsibility for the cuts lay with central government.

"The budget that's being proposed does attack some important services," he said.

"We would work harder to protect things like children's centres and the problems that are gong to come with cuts in public bus services."