A SENIOR Worcestershire Conservative insists a controversial four per cent council tax rise will ease pressures in elderly care - saying it cannot face any more "huge cuts".

Councillor Sheila Blagg, a member of the Tory leadership at County Hall, has defended April's prospective hike by revealing it would boost adult social care by £4.2 million.

As your Worcester News revealed in December, a rise of 3.94 per cent is being suggested for householders across the county, adding more than £42 to the average band D property.

The rise, due to be voted on by the county council next month, is worth more than £8 million to the coffers, with half of that cash being ringfenced towards care for the vulnerable.

Councillor Blagg says the money would be "significant" to her department, which is facing the impact of big demographic pressures.

Recent Government changes in the law have put increasing onus on local authorities to offer more help for vulnerable people.

She also says the numbers of people coming forward for care assessments at County Hall have risen 47 per cent, from 307 a month to 452.

"We've taken huge amounts of funding cuts over a number of years and there is no easing of that pressure from Government," she said.

"So what we have done, and are doing, is find ways in which we deliver services differently while still retaining an ambition to improve and grow Worcestershire's economy.

"It'll potentially provide £4.2 million to contribute to the existing cost pressures, but (even that) won't absolutely cover everything that's causing the pressure.

"Within the 'deprivation of liberty safeguards', which has been going in for over a year (extra Government guidelines to support the vulnerable), we have 192 people a month that we have to fund - there was an initial grant given but we don't expect that to continue into the coming year.

"We also have, through the Care Act responsibility for making sure carers are covered and within that we're seeing an increase from 307 a month to 452, for people coming forward for assessment."

She added: "The pressure on adult social care will certainly be alleviated to some degree if that rise is supported so we can raise than extra £4.2 million, it'll be significantly appreciated."

The council spends £127 million on adult social care and health now, 38 per cent of its total net budget.

If voted through in February, it will mean since 2014 council tax will have risen by nearly eight per cent.

The opposition Labour party has severely criticised the proposal, with group leader Councillor Peter McDonald calling it "a tremendous increase".

A 3.94 per cent rise is designed to come in just under Chancellor George Osborne's new 'cap' of four per cent for authorities responsible for adult social care.

Under the cap, councils which levy the rise must ringfence half of it towards helping the elderly and vulnerable.

It comes just weeks after the leadership revealed a plan to spend £2 million on helping develop new technology to keep frail people at home for longer.

The Tory cabinet has already called the rise "controversial" but pointed to the pressures around care, as we revealed in December here.

The authority has drafted a £326 million 2016/17 budget out for consultation, but last month it suffered a blow when its provisional grant funding settlement from the Government was worse than expected.