A COUNCIL tax rise of two per cent has moved a step closer - as council chiefs vowed to "start the conversation" with Worcestershire's householders.

The Conservative leadership at County Hall has endorsed its budget plans for 2015/16 by saying it wants to gauge public opinion on April's proposed hike.

During the cabinet meeting today:

- Leader Councillor Adrian Hardman admitted a rise "will not be popular" with the public but said it would help tackle massive pressure on children's services

- The council admitted it was still in limbo about the Government's exact funding settlement for next year, which was expected to be confirmed at some point today

- They said the £321 million budget, which will result in £25 million of savings, will still result in £1 million being pumped into services every day once you take into account top-up funds during the year from central Government

- If the council tax rise is backed it will mean £4 million extra towards children in care, while an additional £2 million is going towards adult social care to cope with the increasing elderly population

- It was announced that another £3.6 million will go towards flooding alleviation by 2019, with Worcester's New Road an immediate focus

- Funds will be earmarked to ensure the major priorities like Worcester Technology Park, the expansion of Malvern Hills Science Park and the A4440 Southern Link Road part-dualling can press on

The council tax rise would add around £20.54 to the average yearly band D bill, and follows the same hike this year but freezes in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

In recent years the Government has offered councils which freeze rates a grant worth a one per cent rise, and capped increases to two per cent, with councils forced to stage referendums if they go over.

The cap for 2015 has yet to be announced, but there are rumours the Government could lower it to just one per cent.

Cllr Hardman said: "We are minded to increase council tax by 1.94 per cent next year to deal with this £4 million pressure on children's services.

"But this is a consultation document, the Government is rumoured to be looking at 'capping' rises at a lower rate than anticipated, which might make a freeze grant more desirable - our budget is a work in process and we will have to reflect on this as more details emerge.

"Let's start the conversation with the people of Worcestershire."

After questions from Labour group leader Councillor Peter McDonald, he said he "understands it's not going to be popular", but pointed to freezes in three of the last four years.

Cllr McDonald said people would be “paying more for less” and are facing a “cost of living crisis”.

“With the children in our care, this is an area we can just can’t afford to underfund,” said Cllr Hardman.

“As a Corporate Parent we cannot lose sight of this. I do understand it won’t be welcomed that we could be increasing council tax by £20 a year, one of our key Conservative pledges was that we’d not increase it beyond inflation during the life cycle of this council.

“But since this Government came into power we’ve accepted three years of freezes, even if this did go up 1.94 per cent we’ll still be able to fulfil the pledge we made to our electors.”

He also told the chamber the council had to be more reliant on its own income rather than central Government.

He called it a “skeleton budget” at the moment, saying: “We are looking forward because we are still four months away from our budget becoming a reality.

“As a responsible council, we have to set a budget we can afford, which fulfils the demands and expectations of our citizens to the best of our ability.

“It’s clear to us, the path is quite clearly being laid out that austerity is not going to stop, and the more self-reliant we are, the better.

“We will still be spending over £1 million a day on services for our residents and will give full weight to demand pressures and the cost of services.”

The budget will go out for consultation ahead of a vote at full council in February, before kicking in from the spring.