Liberal Democrat councillors have finalised a package of budget proposals that will be considered by a meeting of the county council on Tuesday (February 17).

The proposals set out how the council's £1.2 billion revenue budget could be shared between services, which include education, social care, highway maintenance, waste disposal and public health.

They include plans to increase the county council element of residents' council tax bills by 4.99%.

They outline plans for the county council to make £57 million of savings and efficiencies.

The finalised budget proposals were approved by a meeting of the council's cabinet on Wednesday (February 11) – following four weeks of council scrutiny.

But before being implemented, they will need the approval of the full council.

On Tuesday (February 17), a meeting of the full council will determine whether or not they should be approved.

Presenting the proposals to the cabinet on Wednesday, executive member for resources and performance Cllr Chris Lucas said they were "ambitious" and "affordable".

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"I am very proud of this budget that we have proposed, because the administration is setting both an ambitious and an affordable budget that will enable us to deliver on the priorities that are important for our residents and businesses," he said.

"Despite the Government's formula cutting in real terms – over £40 million in grant funding over the next three years – we are still investing an extra £106 million in the services that matter most to our residents."

Cllr Lucas highlighted an additional £6 million earmarked to improve opportunities and outcomes for children and young people with SEND, an extra £16 million to support looked-after children and £47 million for adult care services.

He catalogued plans for capital investment in 1,150 new school places for children with SEND, as well as "innovative" plans to fix Hertfordshire roads and buses.

He also pointed to the council's commitment to reduce costs and ensure value for money.

"As a financially responsible administration committed to delivering more, this administration will continue to innovate and ensure we are working as efficiently as possible, to reduce costs and provide good value for money," he said.

"Our aim is to reduce our costs by a record £57 million through next year through a range of measures, including focusing on prevention to help people live safely and independently in their own homes, driving innovation, efficiency and productivity in everything that we do, increasing our income and making savings."

Cllr Lucas acknowledged the plans to increase council tax by a total of 4.99%, "in line with government assumptions".

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And overall, he said it was a "compassionate and inclusive budget for all Hertfordshire residents".

He said it was designed to provide access to support services for "safe, fulfilling, healthy and dignified life".

And he said it was a budget that provided short, medium and long-term stability – that he said reflected the values of the Liberal Democrat administration to provide a "fairer, greener and more caring Hertfordshire".

At the meeting, it was reported that in recent days additional funding had been made available to the county council – reflecting business rates allocations, changes to the Government allocation and money being made available to support 'high needs' funding in schools.

As a result, it was reported that an additional £4.5 million could now be allocated to council reserves – and a further £1.5 million had been allocated elsewhere.

Cllr Lucas outlined how, as a result, the budget proposals would now include an additional £1 million for highways and transport services.

There would, he said, be an additional £350,000 for projects to improve air quality.

And the care leavers' exemption from paying council tax would be extended from 21 to 25, which has an estimated cost of £150,000 a year.

The proposed change to the council tax exemption for care leavers has already been welcomed by the leader of the county council's Labour group, Cllr Nigel Bell.

In a statement issued to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Bell said: "This has been a policy change that the Labour group at the county council has long campaigned for.

"Year after year, we included the proposal in our opposition Labour budget amendments, and it was rejected, but we were pleased that last year the Conservative-controlled county council finally listened and in their last county budget included the proposal for care leavers from 18 to 21 year olds.

"It's important to now have this extension to cover the 18 to 25 years as so many councils of different parties across the country now have, as the extra funding makes long-term sense to give an important start in life to some of our most vulnerable young people."