RE-ELECTED county council leader David Shakespeare has warned new charges for less-essential services may have to be introduced to keep council tax rises below inflation.

In an exclusive interview after his Tory group was returned to power, Cllr Shakespeare said that changes were being explored to keep bills under control.

The Conservative said: "This year we worked very hard and the increase would have been 3.1 per cent if the Government hadn't taken £1million they overpaid us."

The council tax increase in 2004 was 3.7 per cent.

The Government predicts five per cent rises across the country for all councils this year.

He added: "People will not like it because they want it to be in line with inflation.

"The only way to get it lower is by saving money. The council spends the whole year looking at this."

Cllr Shakespeare, who has been responsible for the budget for more than a decade, gets complaints every year when he sets the costs.

He said: "Spending so much of the year pruning the budget, I am always taken aback by the number of people who are oblivious to the amount of work that goes on."

He replies to complaints explaining how the figures are arrived at and sometimes the message gets through.

"It is so pleasant when you get people saying they understand," he said. "It doesn't hurt quite as much."

The message is that the Government says how much cash he will get, he works out what the council needs to spend and the difference is the amount he needs in council tax.

"The trick is trying to drive down what it costs to run the council," he said.

He admitted, though, that could mean charging for areas of council services that are not totally necessary.

"There must be a debate about how many services are core services that have to be kept and how many are add-on services, for which people could pay cost price," he explained. "If people want lower council tax, people who want more services will have to pay more. We shall explore this."

There is the added complication he says that with no election looming, the Government may not be so keen to give councils extra money.

In the eight years of the Labour Government the council has had to hit targets and undergo regular inspections.

If targets are to be hit, more money may have to go into services, such as the £2.5million extra each year for four years on social services.

"We should be allowed to get on with the job," said Cllr Shakespeare.

"We need them to stop interfering for a couple of years."