NOBODY can deny we are living in challenging times financially.

And it is precisely during these times that the correct decisions must be made.

Therefore it came as no surprise to hear that Hertfordshire County Council is preparing to slash £150 million from its budget.

This could get even worse when the Government’s comprehensive spending review is announced.

But when you look at where the cuts are going to be made you really start to wonder if the council has got its priorities in order.

Library opening hours are to be cut by 30 per cent.

Libraries are regularly used by some of the most vulnerable people in the community as a place to study, meet or gain access to computers and the internet. They are mainly used by the elderly and the young and cutting their opening hours will affect these two groups the most.

The council also aims to save £22m by, amongst other things, putting fewer children into care and reducing the number of pupils expelled from the county’s schools.

Call me old fashioned, but I rather hoped that children were only moved into care when absolutely necessary and that pupils were expelled from school as a last resort any way.

A further £23m will be saved by making cuts in adult care services with more old people encouraged to stay in their homes rather than moving in to care homes. Let us hope their personal needs are put before the council’s need to save money.

It is hoped that more than £30m will be banked in the highways department via procurement, but given the state of the county’s roads you wonder if spending less on them really is an option.

Meanwhile HR, payroll, occupational health, finance, IT, facilities management and customer contact services will be out-sourced, saving an estimated £20m. However, we are yet to hear if the council will keep its propaganda machine.

In 2008 we revealed that the county council spent a total of £3,033,000 running its press office. We know it has since trimmed its PR bill by more than £1m, but with such savage cuts in key areas, can the council afford to spend so much in an area which can hardly be deemed ‘essential’?

At the time of our initial article the council claimed this money was not used for spin but to “inform people of the vital services which we provide”.

But a quick look down the latest list of press releases suggests otherwise. Articles including: Don't be late for school; Wooden it be great to be a warden; New contractor to run Hertfordshire Pension Fund and Council for the Future are not what I would call ‘vital’.

And then there is iN Hertfordshire, the new “glossy magazine” published by the county council and Hertfordshire Constabulary.

It contains fashion, health and lifestyle advice, will be available in libraries (when they are open), health centres and surgeries, shops, police stations and other sites across the country.

The first issue in September contained a breakdown of units in a variety of alcoholic drinks, fire safety tips for barbecues and, somewhat ironically, financial advice for surviving the credit crunch.

The magazine cost £20,000, small fry compared to what needs to be saved, but surely such frivolous spending must end.

Saving money is understandable and necessary and the majority of taxpaying citizens realise this must happen.

But it is important that savings are made in the correct areas for the right reasons.

Council leader Robert Gordon says the council will be “leaner not meaner”.

But the cuts that have been identified are ‘mean’ and what is more, they hit the most vulnerable people of our communities the hardest.