"The hiatus affecting Westminster politics" has left it "impossible" for Hertfordshire County Council to plan its budget for the next few years.

Estimates suggest that next year the council will face a funding gap of £45 million – which could mean cuts to front-line services such as social care and education.

By this point in the year, the authority expected to have specific information about next year’s funding from central government – as well as further information relating to business rates retention, council tax limits and the Green Paper on social care.

It is also waiting for a a rolling four-year funding agreement for local government.

But Conservative councillor Ralph Sangster told a meeting of the county council on Tuesday, was “facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty”.

“As a consequence of the hiatus affecting Westminster politics none of these essential projects have been delivered,” he said.

“That has left local government totally unaware of the extent of its funding provision for next year or future years .”

Cllr Sangster said it was currently impossible to judge how much of the estimated £45 million gap would be met through cutting costs or increasing funding.

He said: “That is an impossible environment in which to manage future budget decisions.

“For all these reasons I believe it is appropriate that this council has the opportunity to register its concerns over the failure of central government to prioritise local government’s needs of certainty over its future funding levels.”

Councillors point to the delay to the Government’s spending review and fair funding review, as well as the failure to publish the Green Paper on adult social care.

Cllr Ralph Sangster, who is responsible for resources and performance, has already committed to write to the county’s MPs to highlight the challenges.

The council also agreed that leader Cllr David Williams – who has been elected as chairman of the County Councils Network – should highlight the council’s concerns in his new role.

This will include making the case for Hertfordshire – and other councils – to ministers in the Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Presenting the motion to the county council, Liberal Democrat Cllr Paul Zuckowskyj said there was a need to challenge government about impact uncertainty had on the budget setting process.

Labour’s Cllr Sharon Taylor – who is also leader of Stevenage Borough Council – pointed to the failure of central government to recognise the issue.

She said local government needed ‘pounds’ rather than the ‘sticking plasters’ of one-off grants.

And while she said it was  right to point to the uncertainties, she pointed to the need to increase local government funding too.

“We urgently require that the Treasury recognises the damage done to our communities, restores the funding to the level we need and puts real money into this not just shunting funding around from other parts of the public sector,” said Cllr Taylor.

Agreeing with the motion, Cllr David Williams said he recognised the impact of one-off grants to local authorities.

In recent years these have included the better care fund, winter pressures grants, highways maintenance grants, fire services pensions grant, social care grant and the additional flexibility of council tax income.

But he said he would now welcome more certainty.

He said the CCN had already highlighted the issue at committee level Westminster and written to both Prime Ministerial candidates.

And he said that within days there would be a campaign by the CCN to support a roll-over and setting out an expectation that some of the grants provided in previous years would continue.

The motion was agreed by the full council, with the backing of Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors.