by political editor Paul Francis

Kent County Council says it now expects to find £15m savings this year - nearly £8m less than it feared.

But despite the news, council leaders say they are braced for much more serious reductions in government grants next year, with some predictions that they could be cut by as much as 25 per cent.

KCC had estimated that it could have to find £23m to cut from its budget this year but after the coalition government released more detailed information, finance chiefs have revised that figure down to £15m.

But while the overall figure for savings has come down, the council has warned that spending on children's services may have to take a bigger hit. Its share of the £15m has risen to about £7m based on government calculations.

KCC leader Paul Carter said jobs and services would both be hit.

"There is only one way of bringing budgets into line. One is to employ less people and the other is to do less things. We are going to have to do a combination of these. There is a lot of pain on the way. This is the start of the challenge we have to face to bring our public finances back on track."

Cllr Sarah Hohler, KCC cabinet member for children's services, said it was vital children's services were safeguarded and further savings after a reorganisation that has cut 260 posts would be unwelcome.

"I do not think we have a lot of choice left [to cutback spending]. Educating our children is incredibly important and cannot be compromised. We have just had a prolonged period of restructuring and I do not want to go through that [again] at this stage."

KCC finance director Lynda McMullan said the scale of cuts that the authority was likely to face was substantial, with this year's savings of £15m representing just 1.4 per cent of government grant money. "We are anticipating reductions of about 25 per cent."