Suffolk County Council budget cut of £38.2m considered

The Sea Breeze Children's Centre in Felixstowe is one of nine threatened with closure

Budget cuts of £38.2m being considered by Suffolk County Council have prompted a call for the authority to use more of its reserves.

The Conservative-run council would have a budget of £454.3m for 2015-16, compared to £485.1 for last year.

The opposition Labour group said the council needed to dip into its £165m reserves to protect children's centres and other services.

The Tories said £135m from reserves was already earmarked for other projects.

Labour criticised the cuts proposal at a time when the council was considering closing nine of its 47 children's centres.

'Rainy day with us'

Councillor Sandy Martin, Labour leader, said: "There's been a reduction in staff, money spent, services provided and numbers eligible to get those services, and that sounds like cuts to me, not reorganisation.

"This programme is about closing down children's services and then designating other buildings for them which are not suitable.

"We think the £165m reserves should be run down to a sensible level of around £50m - the 'rainy day' has been with us for some time."

Conservative councillor Jenny Antill, said: "Our reserves are part of our long-term management of the council and £135m of that is already committed to projects such as £6m for broadband rollout and £2m for the Raising the Bar educational project.

"Up to 2018 we're going to have to save a further £80m, so £30m [left in] reserves pales into insignificance when you look at that sort of money.

"It's an absolute priority to look after the vulnerable and we're trying to redesign services so they are more efficient and meet customer-need much better, and I don't think that's going to result in people receiving worse services."

The budget is due to be considered by the council's cabinet on 27 January.