It will be another tough year for Medway Council after the government announced a 1.8% cut in funding for local authorities.

Finance boss Cllr Alan Jarrett is bracing himself for further streamlining of key services but pledged that the council would continue to invest in children’s care, including the provision of more primary school places, and protect frontline services.

He added that facilities for vulnerable residents in the community would also be protected.

The council is still short of £12 million after a projected reduction of £14 million for 2015/16 compared to the current financial year.

Cllr Jarrett said that the Local Government Association forecast the loss of grants would make it considerably more in real terms.

He said: “The government’s figures are smoke and mirrors. Once again it’s going to be a tough year. We shall be looking to working more smartly in certain areas; for example, with adult services we are working more with partners.

“While every authority has been affected, I feel Medway has been particularly hard hit. We expect that by 2015/16 we will have seen funding from central government cut by 48% over the last five years.

“I am hoping any cuts we may be forced to make will not affect residents in Medway.”

The proposed council tax rise for 2014/15 is 1.99% which is just under the government cap, thereby avoiding a public referendum.

Cllr Jarrett said the increase was unavoidable to maintain vital services and would amount to a modest average extra bill of about £20 per household.

He gave an assurance that any cuts would not affect Surestart children’s centres, adding: “We gave that assurance in 2011. We had 19 centres and we still have 19 centres.”

And where other councils are switching off street lights to save money, Medway council have said that the lights will remain on in the Towns.

According to the Labour Party, three-quarters of councils in England have switched off or dimmed street lights in order to preserve core services like social care and road maintenance.

Medway Council said it still has no plans to turn off or dim any of the Towns’ lights but in some areas of Walderslade the lights go off between midnight and 5.30am.

This is because these roads come under Kent County Council control rather than Medway Council - last year KCC decided to switch of street lights across Kent.

Tristan Osborne, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Chatham, is working with Kent Labour Group on a campaign against the switch off.

He said: “Medway Council has decided to keep the lights on. But Medway is different to Kent as it is two thirds urban, KCC need to be listening to borough and parish councillors and the concerns of residents.”

Roads affected by KCC’s switch off include those near Kit Hill, Blue Bell Hill, Taddington Wood, Impton Wood, Beechen Bank and Badger Road near Lordswood Industrial Estate.

Conservative councillor for the ward Allan Sullivan said he only had a few concerned calls when the lights were first switched off.

He said: “Most concerned were the people who had early starts. Local authorities are desperately struggling to maintain mainline services and central government are continuing to cut funding.”

A decision has yet to be made about the lights along the footpath in Taddington Woods leading from Taddington Wood Lane to Lower Robin Hood Lane.

Councillors for KCC said the measures will save taxpayers approximately £1m in energy costs and cut carbon emissions by about 5,000 tonnes a year.

There is a map on KCC’s website showing the areas affected.

The finalised budget and council tax bill will be formally approved at a meeting of the full council in February.