FUNDING for rural bus routes and community partnerships are reduced in budget plans put forward by East Lothian Council’s Labour administration which include more than £1million in staff savings.

The minority administration has published its plans for next year’s budget ahead of a special meeting next week when it will attempt to secure support from opposition councillors.

However it has pledged that a reduction in funding for subsidised bus routes will not lead to any reduction in service.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, deputy council leader, said a £110,000 saving on buses had been found through negotiating new contracts,saying the service has been enhanced.

He said: "I can give a cast iron guarantee the bus services will not be cut as a result of the saving."

The administration has refused opposition calls to keep a rise in council tax at just three per cent, insisting in its budget it should be increased by 4.84 per cent – the maximum allowed by the Scottish Government.

The draft budget plan includes pushing ahead with a £600,000 cut to funds given to the county’s six area partnerships, which was agreed at last year’s budget, and a bid to cut the cost of subsidised bus routes.

It calls for a “re-tendering” of the supported bus contracts with an aim to cut £110,000 from the costs.

The council currently subsidises 11 routes which provide bus services to rural parts of the county and held a public consultation on its current routes last year, with the results still to be published.

The budget plans also include more than £1million in savings being sought by “enhanced vacancy management, deletion of posts, service reviews and wider review/modernisation of staff terms and conditions”.

Plans to seek £250,000 in saving from the health and social care partnership have been dropped and a further £950,000 of funds is being invested in children’s services.

However, plans to increase investment in additional support for learning services have been dropped.

East Lothian Council is made up of nine Labour councillors, seven Conservative councillors and six SNP councillors.

The administration delayed its budget meeting by a week, with council officers citing the delay to the Scottish Government and UK Government budget announcements, despite other local authorities going ahead with setting their financial plans.

Both the Conservative and SNP Groups have said they will not support their Labour colleagues’ proposed council tax increase and the outcome of next week’s meeting to discuss the budget plan remains unclear, as Labour will need the support of at least some of the opposition councillors to pass its budget.