The article dated Monday, 15 December 2014 entitled ‘Services face axe as council seeks £53m budget cut’ is unfortunately misleading.

As with other councils, West Sussex County Council is facing significant budget reductions while demand for our services increases. We have the ninth highest number of people aged over 75 living in the county and that brings with it significant challenges and pressure on services. We anticipate that there is a £124m gap between the amount of money we would need to deliver services as they currently are and the amount of money we’ll be receiving by 2019. It would be irresponsible of us if we didn’t find ways to bridge that gap.

At the County Council meeting on Friday, 12 December, we presented a series of proposals that will deliver £53m of those savings over the next two years. We have done everything that we possibly can to avoid cuts to frontline services and our proposals focus more on redesigning services, working more effectively with partners such as the NHS where we are sharing partnership funding to support people in their homes and keep them out of hospital. We’re also renegotiating some of our bigger contracts to get better value for our residents and looking at our own transportation spending to reduce costs.

Making these changes will allow us to invest in services that matter most to our residents with the remaining £500m + budget we will still have. In the next two years we’re going to: l Invest an additional £4m per year in adult services to reduce the pressure on the service from an increasingly ageing population.

l Deliver on our multi-million pound investment in high speed broadband capability across the county.

l Invest a further £15m in the second year of the successful Better Roads programme to improve many of the county’s rural and residential roads.

l Invest more in the Council’s Think Family programme, which helps get out-of-work parents back to work and helps families who need more support.

l Invest nearly £1m to ensure the continuation of the Local Assistance Network to help local people if they find themselves in a vulnerable financial position.

We’re hopeful that our strong financial management will also mean that we’re able to freeze council tax for the fifth successive year as we’d rather you had more money in your pocket to spend in the West Sussex economy. We calculate that freezing council tax for the last four years has meant there’s been £162m more cash out in the West Sussex economy (approximately £523 for the average council tax payer) rather than inside County Hall.

We believe this is the right approach and we will do everything that we can to ensure the council offers the best possible value for money for its taxpayers. There are undoubtedly difficult times ahead but we’re comfortable that we have a strong plan to deal with the challenges facing West Sussex over the next four years.

Louise Goldsmith – Leader of West Sussex County Council Michael Brown – WSCC Cabinet Member for Finance Christine Field – WSCC Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing Peter Catchpole – Cabinet Member for Adults and Social Care Pieter Montyn – Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport Bob Lanzer – Cabinet Member for Corporate Services Peter Evans – Cabinet Member for Start of Life Jeremy Hunt – Cabinet Member for Education and Skills Harriet Shelley – News Manager West Sussex County Council