by political editor Paul Francis

Dozens of road schemes, spending on speed cameras and grants for parents to pay for pre-school care will all be hit under a package of emergency cost-cutting measures set out by Kent County Council.

Under its plans, KCC has insisted vital services will be broadly safeguarded but has admitted the package represents only a short-term solution to its funding crisis.

Finance chiefs say much deeper cuts will be needed to cope with the 25 per cent cut in grants councils will have to confront following the government's budget.

Among the biggest casualties this year will be £4.1m earmarked for dozens of local road schemes across the county, including many aimed at improving safety and easing congestion.

The money saved is likely to see planned schemes such as pedestrian crossings, cycle routes and safety improvements all abandoned. A full list of those facing the axe is expected to be published next week.

Some £608,000 earmarked for new speed cameras and speed signs is to be cut.

KCC says it intends to axe £736,000 from its reserve budget for the Supporting People programme.

While there will be no cuts to actual grants from this reserve, which is used to help vulnerable and elderly people remain in their own homes, finance chiefs have warned that "it is inevitable that frontline services will be affected in the future."

Further savings will be made from about £1.5m that KCC says is available to pay the costs of pre-school care but it does not expect families to claim.

Other savings will come from money earmarked to pay for government schemes that have now been scrapped while there will be a review of how £800,000 of other unidentified grants could be saved.

Cllr John Simmonds (Con), KCC cabinet member for finance, said the savings represented the best way to deal with the cuts needed this year.

"The effect on individuals will be quite limited. This buys us time to plan ahead of what is going to happen in the next three years. We are living in a period of considerable uncertainty. It is going to be difficult and we need and adult discussion about the reality of the money we have got."

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KCC leader Cllr Paul Carter said the prospect of dealing with a 25 per cent cut in budgets was "a huge challenge but also an opportunity to do things differently."

He said: "I am confident that we can build on our track record of innovation to find new and more cost effective ways to deliver services."