County councillors are set to scrutinise a package of proposed budget measures, after they were backed by a meeting of senior councillors.

The draft ‘2019/20 – 2022/23 Integrated Plan’ sets out Hertfordshire County Council’s spending priorities for the next three years.

It is designed to take into account increasing demand for services, reductions in funding from central government and inflationary pressures on suppliers

And it includes a series of measures designed to balance the books next year – with estimated savings of £19 million and council tax increases of 2.99 per cent.

On Monday (January 21) the draft plan was approved by a meeting of the cabinet: council leader Cllr David Williams and the eight executive members.

And now it will go through a four-week period of scrutiny, before being considered by a meeting of the full council on February 19.

At the cabinet meeting, executive member for resources and performance Cllr Ralph Sangster said the council would be making £19 million of savings in the coming year – and £90 million by 2023.

He admitted it was getting progressively harder to balance the books, as it was harder to find efficiency savings.

And he proposed that work began as soon as possible on financial plans for future years.

At the meeting executive member for growth, infrastructure, planning and the environment Derrick Ashley said he was pleased that the council continued to be “ahead of the game” and had not had to bring significant financial cuts or savings to a budget meeting.

And executive member for community safety and waste management Cllr Terry Hone noted that the plan contained significant capital investment of almost £250million in the next year.

Meanwhile, the proposed 2.99 per cent increase in council tax – equivalent to 76 pence a week on a Band D property – is the maximum increase allowed without triggering a referendum.

Ultimately the full council tax bill sent out to Hertfordshire residents will also include charges levied from the Police and Crime Commissioner, the relevant district or borough council – and in some cases parish councils too.

Cllr Sangster told the meeting of the cabinet that the  majority of residents who replied to the county council’s survey said they would rather pay increased council tax than see services reduced.

The draft proposals will be considered by a meeting of the county council’s overview and scrutiny committee on January 23 and 31, before being passed to each of the cabinet panels.