SCHOOLS, social services and roads are among the services set to benefit from a £20 million boost in spending.

Buckinghamshire County Council announced plans on Monday to increase their budget by 5.8 per cent to £363 million.

Council leader David Shakespeare welcomed the plans, which were considered at a meeting of the council's cabinet.

He said: "There is a lot of good news in this year's budget. That's partly due to the success of a campaign, in which Buckinghamshire played a leading part, to persuade the Government that councils in the south-east needed more money to cover the high cost of living.

He added: "Our task over the next couple of months will be to strike a balance between the need to continue providing high quality services and how much it is reasonable to ask people to pay in council tax."

The council will now be consulting people in the New Year to see how they think the money should be spent.

Proposals include an increase in council tax in line with the average rise in the south-east, to boost education spending by £13 million, spend more on better roads and footpaths or inject £4.6 million into social services.

Cllr Shakespeare said that it was important for the council to get a clear picture of what people wanted as their services affected everyone in the community.