UPDATE - £38m worth of cuts, two per cent council tax rise and job losses agreed by Wakefield Council

Not a single councillor voted against a budget report at a meeting of the full council at Wakefield County Hall this afternoon.

The proposals include cuts of £20m from the adult care budget and £5m from services for children and young people.

Up to another 100 jobs will also be lost during the next year - on top of the 1,400 predicted in last year’s budget.

So far 1,000 staff have already lost jobs as part of the proposals.

Councillors also agreed a rise of just under two per cent in council tax.

They rejected two amendments from the UK Independence Party - including a ten per cent cut in councillors’ allowances.

UKIP councillor David Dews also had a proposal to turn off the fountain in Wakefield’s Bull Ring - which he said would save £105,000 - turned down.

Council leader Peter Box said the council was no longer able to protect frontline services, as the central government funding cuts had now ‘crossed the line between efficiency savings and cuts.’

See this week’s Express for the full story.