DURHAM County Council has endorsed a raft of cost saving proposals it says will help keep it away from a “financial cliff edge”.

The council’s cabinet meeting agreed on Wednesday to approve a consultation asking people what they think the priorities of council spending should be, as they try to cut £29m from their budget for 2017/18.

The package includes an £8.2m cushion from its reserves.

The authority has already made significant cuts to its budget and remains on target to hit the required £181m by the end of this financial year, including a reduction of 2,000 staff posts.

But based on financial predictions and Government information to date – and without yet knowing the full impact of leaving the European Union – the council forecasts it will need to find a further £64m in savings by the end of 2019/20.

Endorsing a medium term financial plan on Wednesday, council deputy leader Alan Napier said: “This has been developed in context of extremely challenging times for local government and the public sector more generally as result of the ideologically politically-motivated sustained attack on the public sector by the current government.

“These pressures may be further exacerbated post Brexit – although it is still unclear how this will feed through to financial cuts for this council.

“With at least three more years of austerity to come its makes it almost a decade of austerity this council would have faced."

Cllr Napier added: “In any financial plan there is a raft of numbers in there, but I think of us at this council realise that behind those numbers are people and they will expect us to deliver on their priorities.

"And because of the strategical financial management of this council we able to that. It keeps us away from the financial cliff edge for as long as we possibly can."