by political editor Paul Francis

Kent County Council is set to agree a budget this today that will see council tax bills frozen but many residents facing the prospect of paying more for some services.

County councillors are due to vote on a spending package that will include £95m of savings and the prospect of up to 1,500 County Hall jobs going over the next three to four years.

The council is facing one of its toughest financial years as the impact of the government’s public sector spending squeeze begins to hit home.

KCC’s Conservative administration will outline how some £1.2bn is to be spent supporting 300 different services over the coming year.

The council says its budget will safeguard key frontline services, with £35m being saved through cutting out waste and £39m coming from policy changes.

A further £9m is to be taken from "rainy day" money to cushion the impact.

But unions fear the extent of job losses will be severe and that many services will come under additional pressure because of staff shortages.

And opposition parties are to argue that the budget includes a series of price hikes for some services that represent "stealth taxes".

Under the budget, the average council tax for the KCC share of the overall bill will stay at £1,047 for Band D homes.

Among the more controversial measures due to be debated are plans to double the fee for the popular Kent Freedom Pass; a cut of £629,000 to uneconomic bus routes and higher charges for some social care.

Full report and updates onwww.kentonline.co.uk and follow the debate via Paul’s Twitter @PaulOnPolitics