AT the heart of these budget plans are a council tax freeze and a shift in spending towards adults with severe disabilities .

At the same time, it is proposed that older people with less profound needs will have their services cut.

Increases in adult social care spending at Notts County Council have driven budget decisions in the authority for some years.

But this year the need for additional spending on disabled adults and the elderly is huge, according to the council's figures.

They identify additional costs of £15.5m in the coming year. This is half of all the extra cash the local authority has to find in 2010/11.

The reason is the increasing number of people for whom the council must care in adulthood.

The population is ageing and children with severe disabilities, who would once have been more likely to die in childhood, are now living well into adulthood.

The second-largest cost facing the council next year is the Conservatives' proposal for a council tax freeze.

It will cost the authority £9m next year.

To pay for it, other budgets will have to be cut.

The Adult Social Care department is itself earmarked for savings of £10.5m – almost twice the total proposed in any other section.

Under the current plans, among those who will lose out will be older people whose needs are judged to be less severe.

The Conservatives are proposing to save millions of pounds by increasing charges for home care; cutting, or increasing the cost of, transport for older people, particularly those who use day centres; closing day centres and charging for services; and increasing the costs of meals on wheels.

County residents will get a say on these plans through the council's budget consultation.

It may be argued that additional costs in adult care cannot be avoided, but it will be interesting to see whether residents think the proposed budget cuts are a price worth paying for the tax freeze.