The county council budget the Tories will push through next week means significant cuts in children’s services and in community care.

It shows just what we will be in for, if Mr Cameron ever gets into 10 Downing Street.

Youth services are still to be cut and there will be less money for Surestart, as well as cuts in respite care, home support and day care for the elderly and disabled. There are also mean-minded cuts to everything from outdoor education centres, like Hill End, to the much-admired young people’s Music Service.

The valuable work which Trading Standards does to protect consumers will also be cut.

Incredibly the Conservatives plan to spend even less on repairing roads, including the potholed Iffley Road in my own division.

At the same time the Tories plan an above inflation increase in council tax of 2.75 per cent. This is despite getting an extra £1.6m from the Labour Government for 2010/11.

Middle of the range ‘Band D’ homes will be paying £1,162 a year, with police and district council taxes on top. Of course, not everything in the county budget is bad. Belatedly the Tories are committed to an 18 per cent cut in carbon emissions over three years. But they could be cutting fuel bills even more.

Oxford City Council, for example, is reducing its carbon footprint by 25 per cent.

Labour would stop the severe cuts to services for children and elderly people.

We would pay for this in part by reducing the huge £2m devoted to communications (or spin) and to county councillors’ allowances. Sadly with only nine Labour councillors and 52 Conservatives we are unlikely to get the chance.

John Tanner Oxfordshire county councillor for Isis and Labour spokesman for sustainable development, Sunningwell Road, Oxford