Cllr Foulkes said  the authority had  “been fantastic at producing efficiencies”  and all the savings  outlined in the budget  were achievable.

Describing it as a  budget “about jobs  and the environment”, Cllr Foulkes said: “This is  the third budget of our administration. It’s not about the election,  it’s about the future of our citizens.”

Deputy leader of the council and  leader of the Lib Dem group, Cllr  Simon Holbrook, praised the initiatives in the budget and said: “We  are seeing the effects of the difficult decisions made in  previous years.

“The real challenge  is to get transformational change in the  Wirral economy. The  council cannot do it itself, but we have to play  our part.”

Cllr Foulkes also announced  plans to bring Guinea Gap Baths  back into mainstream funding  after it was given just two years  during the Strategic Asset Review.

Conservative leader Jeff Green  said while he welcomed some of  the initiatives, it was a “missed opportunity”.

He said: “Last year we were told  that  because the budget was in  such a mess we had to close swimming pools and libraries and that  ‘doing nothing was not an option’.

“But that has been shown to be  massively incorrect. It was a huge  con on the people of Wirral.

“This budget shows how wrong  they were 12 months ago.”