Taxpayers could be asked to pay Norfolk County Council an extra £1.10 a week under budget plans which will be set out next week.

The local authority is set use the freedom offered by the government to add 3pc to bills to help plug budget gaps in social care and also to ask for another 1.8pc amid falling grants from central government.

Councillors are set to meet over the coming weeks to weigh up how to balance the books.

About £44m of savings will need to be found at the council next year - including £11.2m from the adult social care budget and £1.8m from the children's services budget.

A one-off payment of £9m will be made to children's services amid warnings it could overspend its current budget by £9.3m.

Councillors will next week begin debates about the Council's budget which could see an additional £25 million next year to support adult social care as part of proposals designed to put the authority on a secure footing for the future.

Councillors will be asked to approve a council tax rise of 4.8pc, which means an average band D council taxpayer would have to pay an extra £1.10 a week.

It comes four months before Norfolk County Council elections in May.

Cliff Jordan, Conservative leader of the council, said: 'At this point in any political cycle it would clearly be expedient not to raise council tax at all, and certainly not to increase it further. My judgement is that we must put those worries aside and do the right thing for Norfolk. We want to look after the most vulnerable people in Norfolk. We have a duty and responsibility to invest in services that will support their quality of life.

'This budget has been 'right sized' for the job and will give this council a sound footing for the future.'

While £11.2m of savings will still have to be found in adult social care, including from the building resilient lives programme, it has found £25.87m extra to help tackle an aging population, care costs, increases in the living wage and money to plug this year's budget gap.