CHANGES to Brighton and Hove City Council’s budget process would not end the “pantomime” of recent budget-setting meetings, union reps have claimed.

Union figures have cautiously welcomed four-year budget proposals “in theory” but warned that repeats of drawn-out political battles over the nature of future cuts could not be ruled out.

Under plans to be discussed next week, department heads could be requested to draw up detailed budgets for the next four years which would include up to £77 million worth of savings.

Budgets up to 2019/20 would have only two council tax options of either a freeze or an increase of 1.99% - the maximum increase currently allowed without referendum.

Alex Knutsen from Unison said: “I can’t see that it would end the pantomime for the same reason that we have a hung council so if you have proposals that are unpopular with the Greens and Blues, they will block it.”

Mr Knutsen also warned that fixing the council tax rise to just 1.99% could see the council “overtaken by events” with no flexibility to cope with increased demand for services.

He added: “One way or another, the scale of these cuts will mean next to no service or very poor service unless money is found from somewhere else.

“There is a real concern that there really are no safe areas where we can cut now which won’t affect frontline services.”

And he added that unions would welcome a “more commercial approach” to council services if carried out in the right way.

Mr Knutsen said: “From Unison’s point of view there is no objection to a more commercial approach where that means we get money for services that we already provide or services we could provide in the future.

“Things like a tourist tax have worked very well abroad and the council should be pushing very hard for solutions like this.

“If a more commercial approach just means outsourcing then we thing privatisation is a big mistake and would cost the council more in the long-run.”