WILTSHIRE Council has approved a five per cent hike in council tax as it faces further cuts in government funding.

The budget was set at a full council meeting in Trowbridge on Tuesday.

Capital projects are to receive £131.5 million, with the building of more homes, health and wellbeing centres, and community hubs among those to receive money.

Road and bridge improvements have also been included, which comes a week after the council released a list of the roads that are due to be repaired during the course of the next financial year.

A total of £24 million has been set aside, but the figure will cover a fraction of the potholes in Wiltshire, with hundreds of damaged roads not being included in this year’s list.

And £38.7 million will be invested in the economy and transport, and the council’s push for a greater broadband reach has resulted in £3.7 million being forwarded for that goal.

With 4,000 soldiers and their families due to arrive from Germany, the budget also safeguards the commitment to military civilian integration, and protects jobs across the county.

Wiltshire Council Leader Baroness Scott said that during the previous four years, the council had achieved a great deal, and that WC did things differently to other authorities.

She said the council had recruited more than 180 social workers and 42 foster carers due to the increased demand on social care, and £3 million is to go towards meeting this demand.

Vulnerable adults needed to be safe and supported, according to the peer.

The five per cent rise is made up of a 2 per cent rise in the traditional council tax precept, plus an extra three per cent rise to pay for adult social care.

This was accepted by opposition councillors, who agreed it was necessary to meet the reduction in government funding, which is being cut by 17.6 per cent.

Liberal Democrat Leader Glenis Ansell argued that the cabinet should have fought for better funding until it got a better deal for Wiltshire.

She said that although the council voted in favour of the precept increasing, “we are not going in the right direction”.

Cllr Dick Tonge said that the rumours of another unitary council refusing the government were not true.

But Labour’s Ian McLennan said that the government thought they knew what was best, and the resulting cuts would mean 200 people would not have a job next year.

Baroness Scott said there would be more challenges ahead, and was optimistic that the council was well-equipped for the future.

The council spends £1billion a year on more than 350 services.