Councillors have blocked proposed multi-million pound budget cuts.
East Ayrshire Council officials put forward a list of ways to save money for the financial year ahead.
The local authority is facing an £8.9 million shortfall for April 2021 to March 2022.
The services which faced budget chops included education, Ayrshire Roads Alliance and facilities and property management, among others.
Officers branded the proposals “management actions” and said they “will not impact on current service levels or changes to existing council policies.”
The savings options totalled about £8m across council departments and health and social care.
But a number of politicians disagreed and refused to approve the suggested cuts.
Labour councillor John McGhee (Annick) was among those to reject the ideas for scrimping cash.
Cllr McGhee pointed out the “management actions” being put forward don’t go out to public consultation.
The education department’s core support team was set to lose 12 full-time staff positions.
Cllr McGhee said: “Some of the core support team help the most vulnerable in our schools.”
He added: “These decisions will impact our communities. We like to say we serve them – then let’s serve them.”
Overall education service cash was due to be reduced by £2.15m with nurturing posts and nursery staff roles among cutbacks.
The pre-budget report strategy was presented at a full council meeting last week.
The budget savings were knocked back after 17 councillors voted against them.
They included Labour, Conservative, Rubbish and Independent politicians.
A paper presented to politicians said: “This report updates the detail of the budget strategy including specific proposed assumptions to be used to build the council’s budget for 2021/22.
“These assumptions will continue to be refined as better information becomes available.”
