Norfolk County Council services set for multimillion-pound cuts

Multimillion-pound cuts to social and children's services are being considered by Norfolk County Council as it faces a budget deficit of £46.2m.

A report to the cabinet said the council faces a "significant challenge" to meet its budget for 2024-5.

So far, £26.5m in savings have been proposed, including £14.2m and £4.8m for social and children's services respectively.

The council said it faced "substantial uncertainty over funding".

Deputy leader Andrew Jamieson, the cabinet member for finance, said the proposals set out "make a significant contribution towards our £46.2m savings target and will enable the council to continue to deliver key services for Norfolk's residents".

"We will balance the books, as we always have done," he said.

"I am determined that we should concentrate on transforming the way the council works and, wherever possible, reduce the impact on the services that people receive.

"This gets tougher and tougher to achieve, after more than a decade of reduced funding.

"All councils are facing these pressures and that is why we continue to press for multi-year settlements and fairer funding, so that the government can give us more certainty when planning our budgets."

The Conservative-controlled authority said it was waiting to hear whether more government funding would be provided in the Autumn Statement in November or the provisional local government funding settlement in December.

Public consultation on the budget will be undertaken over the autumn, it added.

The cabinet will consider the report on 2 October.

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