Hertfordshire County Council is calling on residents to have a say on how its spend their council tax..

The council provides social care, maintains the county’s 3,000 miles of road, planning ahead for our growing and ageing population and runs the county’s fire and rescue service.

Since 2010 the amount of money it receives from government has fallen g year on year, while at the same time the population is growing and demand for our services is rising.

In the last eight years it has made savings of almost £315 million from our annual budget. It says that had these savings not been made, an average band D household's council tax bill would now be nearly £650 higher per year.

It must now make further savings of £99 million by 2022, despite the pressure of an ageing population. An additional £10.6 million was needed to support older and vulnerable people this year.

Cllr Bob Deering, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources and Performance said: “There’s no denying the scale of the challenge we face as we put together our budget for 2019/20, which is why it’s so important to get your views. We want to continue to provide the right services for the right people, making sure we are focusing on what matters most to you and as well as delivering our services in the most effective and efficient way.

“We do listen to what residents tell us; for instance we know how important the state of our roads is to residents. So in this year’s budget we announced an additional £29 million of funding over the next four years, to improve the condition of our unclassified road network, that’s the roads that most of us live on or go to work on.

“If you live in Hertfordshire, these decisions affect you, so please do have your say.”

Your feedback will be used to inform our decision-making process; you will be able to follow the discussion as plans develop and find out the final outcome at the County Council Meeting on 19 February 2019

You can give your views in our online survey before the end of Sunday December 9.