GREATER cuts to vital services or a hike in council taxes - or both - are the stark options facing Buckinghamshire County Council as it seeks to budget for the coming year, says its leader.

Cllr Martin Tett says the council has made all the efficiency savings it can at this point and is calling for residents to take part in a consultation to help prioritise the services most in need of protection, and decide which ones they could stand to see cut.

The current public consultation document, called 'Tough decisions for tough times' is also asking residents to consider what level of council tax rise, if any, they would be prepared to face as BCC faces a £12million gap in funding next year.

Cllr Tett explained demand for council services was spiralling and that challenging times lay ahead.

He said: "We have all the demand driven service - child safeguarding, elderly adults, people with learning difficulties, things where, franky, if people turn up at your door, you have got to deal with them.

"We have no control over the demand we get for our services and it’s growing all the time."

He added the authority is getting more referrals from bodies such as the police and the health authority for safeguarding assessments - a contributing factor to the damning Ofsted verdict on children’s services handed down to BCC over the summer.

On top of this, Cllr Tett said, the county has to provide care for the ageing population in south Bucks and meet school place provision - currently underfunded to the tune of £7.5million per year for the next three years by central government. Meanwhile BCC has spent £70 million on roads over the last four years, with another £45million planned for the coming three.

And with the two key sources of income coming from central government funding - which is drastically down- and revenue from council tax payments, difficult choices await.

Cllr Tett said: "The money from central government has gone down something like 40 per cent, so there’s less and less money but more and more demand - we’ve cut a lot of our back office admin, We’ve got rid of great tiers of management, we’ve cut lots of the senior posts. The easy cuts, by and large, have now gone."

He explained the £12 shortfall could only be found through council tax increases or service cuts at this point - neither a popular choice with Bucks residents.

He said: "Wherever you want to make savings everybody objects, so it’s really difficult, but at the same time nobody wants council tax increased, particularly when wages aren’t going up very fast, so we’re in a real dilemma here.

"We’re asking people basically ‘what is it you value of what the county council does?’ "What are you prepared to see some savings made in and how much, if any, would you pay in terms of increased council tax to save some of those services?"

A 1.5 per cent increase in council tax was imposed at the last budget, after it had been frozen for three years. An increase of more than 1.9 per cent would mean holding a referendum - yet the cost of doing that, said Cllr Tett, would be in the region of £250, 000. Losing the referendum could also mean a further sum of around £250,000 that would need to be reimbursed to the district council.

He said the consultation would need to indicate a significant majority of residents was in favour of such a rise in tax before the council would risk such a referendum.

He also noted the difference between 1.5 and 1.9 per cent in council tax equated to around 30p for a Band D resident, and hoped people would consider what they felt able to pay to, potentially, help maintain vital services.

Cllr Tett said: "What’s the trade off between a poorer service and paying that little bit extra in terms of council tax? Would people pay £1 a week?

"For one less (shop bought) latte you could help to safeguard local children, you could help to provide for the elderly of the county and you could see a real step change in the quality of our roads.

"This is by far the toughest budget I’ve seen in ten years. And looking ahead for a second, we know it’s not getting any easier. Whichever party comes to power next year, local government is in the front line when it comes to further cuts."

The survey is online at www.buckscc.gov.uk/budget until the closing date of November 9.