DETAILS of how West Somerset Council could save more than £170,000 in the next financial year were unveiled this week, with cuts to charity grants among the proposals.

Cabinet members had already pledged to limit the level of cuts to protect services, despite having to find more than £1.12 million in savings to balance its books in the coming years.

The cuts proposed for the 2012/13 budget included in-house savings and a reduction in grants to the Quantock Hills AONB service and charities including the West Somerset Advice Bureau, CLOWNS, ArtLife, HomeStart and the West Somerset CVS.

At Wednesday's cabinet meeting, finance lead member Cllr Kate Kravis said the planned reduction in charity grants had been limited to 13.98 per cent per grant.

"This reflects the amount the council's Government grant funding was cut," Cllr Kravis said.

She said CLOWNS had taken a bigger cut having secured additional external funding.

However, the proposed grant cuts would all have to undergo an "equalities impact assessment" before a final decision could be taken.

Cabinet members supported the outlined savings and agreed further consultation should be undertaken before their next meeting in February.

A final decision on the level of cuts and savings would be taken when the authority set its budget later in the month.

At the end of last year, cabinet members agreed the council should make around £150,000 of savings in 2012/13 and a further £50,000 in 2013/14.

However, they accepted the council would need to find further savings or generate extra income of more than £1.12 million per year by 2016/17 if it was to remain financially viable.

That was equivalent to almost a quarter of its current annual budget of £4.9m.

Other potential savings included £15,000 on the running costs of public conveniences, £15,000 by signing-up to a civil parking enforcement agreement and a £7,500 saving on a "management consultant".

Councillors were told that a proposed £4,350 cut in funding to Porlock and Watchet Tourist Information centres could be offset by funding from Hinkley C developer EDF Energy.

Finance chief Graham Carne told the meeting: "A significant gap between ongoing levels of income and current levels of expenditure reman, such that 'savings' in excess of £1 million are needed for the council to remain sustainable."