Kirklees Council is one of the lowest spending big councils in the country, figures reveal.
The cash strapped local authority has been hit by £83m budget cuts over the past four years with a further £69m to come.
Last week the council’s finance chiefs warned they might be £28m short by the time they do their 2018/19 budget.
Now data from the Audit Commission has shown Kirklees Council’s spend per head is already lower than the majority of metropolitan councils and is a shocking £1,132 less per person than Knowsley Metropolitan Council in Merseyside.
Its spend per person is lower than Calderdale, Bradford and Leeds and is dropping further, with cuts of more than £120 per head from 2013/14 to this year.
Data shows only two of the 36 metropolitan councils in England spend less on their residents – Wakefield and Solihull near Birmingham.
A top councillor has told the Examiner it makes him angry to see Kirklees bearing the brunt of the cuts and has warned that real front line services are under threat should the Chancellor come calling again.
“We’ve suffered cuts and other local authorities have had increases or not been cut as significantly,” said Clr Graham Turner, cabinet member for resources.
“It’s absolutely a struggle, when somebody cuts 40% of your budget and still expects you to deliver the same services.”
None of the top ten spending local authorities are in West Yorkshire.
Years of austerity has left Kirklees spending at £375 less per person than average for metropolitan areas.
And the shocking figures show cash for adult social care is sparser in Kirklees than almost every other council.
Just £350 per head was spent on vulnerable adults in the district in 2012/13, putting it in the bottom 5% of spenders. Last year, as other councils also suffered cuts, Kirklees rose to within the bottom fifth.
Spend on public health was also low with just £53.40 forked out for each Kirklees citizen, among the lowest 25% in 2013/14. The council is currently waiting on confirmation that it will have to hand back a further £1.6m of public health cash.
Clr Turner said: “At the moment we have a plan that we think is manageable for the next two years.
“But the noises we’re hearing from government is there’s more cuts coming on top of the £69m.
“It does make me angry.
“We should be able to look after our older people and our young that need services.
“We need to protect them and ensure there’s somewhere safe and warm for them to go towards the end of their lives.”
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Clr Turner said it was “political dogma” that had left Kirklees without enough money despite its public health issues resulting from years of heavy industry and mining.
“We’ve tried to cut things like grass cutting but they pale into insignificance to what might have to come,” said Clr Turner.
“All services have slimmed down but the real changes are going to come further down the road when we have to look at real front line services.
“With careful management we’ll get through but we’re waiting for the winter budget statement before we know for sure.”
The council confirmed this week that a £5m surplus in council tax, gained from better than expected payment rates, had been spent on offsetting the £15m deficit in funding for next year’s budget.
Finance directors have confirmed a £7m shortage for the 2016/17 budget but plan to use some of the cash reserves.
As reported, they have predicted they could hold just £14m in reserves by 2018/19.
