THE county council must react to the changing face of local government and "reinvent" itself to protect it in the future, the authority's chief executive has said.

Whilst outlining the council's budget for next year, chief executive Paul Robinson said the reshaping of authority would save around £3 million next year as it battles to plug a £23 million gap.

Worcestershire County Council chief executive Paul Robinson said that whilst nothing in the council's draft budget was particularly “radical” he did see the reshaping of the council as having the potential to be “very different" and "quite exciting".

At a briefing outlining the council’s financial position and next year’s budget, Mr Robinson said local government needed to be “reinvented” and the authority needed to look at what local government should look like in 2018.

He said: “There is nothing in our budget that is what I would consider radical.

“The one thing that has the potential to be very different is the reshaping and redesign of the council and that is about trying to future proof and look to see where we are going to give that level of aspiration as well as the cost effective provision of service.

"It's about not seeing it as a negative.

"We need to engage people and say that if we are going to change, we need to change for the better."

Mr Robinson said the council was having to "drive a compromise" in some areas that the council provides a service - such as libraries and the archive service - because of a lack of money.

He said: "There are some things that we just have to be 'okay' at because we just don't have the money. We can't be good at everything anymore."

A draft budget proposal shows it is likely to be more of the same as the council fights to plug an almost £60 million shortfall over the next three years - a funding gap largely brought on by the increasing cost of caring for the county's most vulnerable children and the elderly.

Cllr Geraghty said council staff are "very much up" for the reshape and redesign.

The council revealed that 40 staff took its offer of voluntary redundancy last month saving the authority around £1.1 million.