Protecting services in this year's city Budget

WE take our responsibilities for providing more than 300 services for Plymouth residents extremely seriously.

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These services include collecting bins, cleaning streets, maintaining roads, looking after parks, protecting children, supporting elderly residents, and providing libraries, leisure facilities and car parks.

We know that many of our services make a big difference to people's lives and this is why we have worked hard to protect all front-line services in this year's budget.

This means there are no reductions to services and in some areas, such as maintenance of children's play areas, we have been able to increase funding. This has not been easy, as rising costs and demand for social care services, support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and homelessness services far outstrip the resources we have available.

We need to allocate an additional £25 million this year to ensure we can continue to provide essential social care for children and adults who rely on it. Around two thirds of our total revenue budget is spent on statutory social care services that support the most vulnerable in our community.