THIS years county council spending proposals will be kept under wraps until January 8.

Worcestershire County Council's cabinet has delayed publishing a draft budget until a special meeting next Wednesday. Spending proposals were due to be published on Wednesday, December 18. But the Government has not been able to confirm the amount it will give the county council.

The difference between the Government grant and the cost of providing services is met by raising taxes from county residents and businesses.

Councillors wanted to wait until the New Year when they know exactly what the difference is before proposing Council Tax rises.

County Councillor and cabinet member for resources Adrian Hardman (Con-Breedon) said: "The Government, as most people are aware, has introduced a new system for allocating grants to councils this year.

"Because it's new, there are inevitably a number of tinkerings that need to be made and the figures we were given two weeks ago are still changing even now.

"Therefore we decided it would be best to wait until the New Year before setting down a draft budget, as the figures should hopefully have settled down by then."

Once a budget has been proposed it will be sent out to all the county council stakeholders, such as district and parish councils, the police and the health organisations, for their opinions.

A formal proposal will then be put forward on February 6 for approval by the full council two weeks later.