MORE council services will be cut in the months ahead.

That was the view of politicians last night as both Kirklees and Calderdale councils faced up to a new round of Government spending cuts.

And the plans were described as Black Wednesday – and the worst day in the history of local government in Kirklees.

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles announced that councils would face a further cut of 1.7% in spending power next year.

He insisted it represented “a bargain to local authorities”.

But the move has been met with anger in West Yorkshire, where both Kirklees and Calderdale are already wrestling with multi-million pound cuts in their budgets.

Both councils are having to make deep cuts of about £84m each to meet new spending levels laid down by the Government, who are cutting the funds they allocate to local authorities.

Clr Mehboob Khan, leader of Kirklees Council, said: “It is another big cut on top of the £84m savings we are already having to find, which have hit jobs and services.

“This equates to something like at least another £9m of cuts and that is certain to mean we have to look at our frontline services.

“We have already proposed a series of cuts and I am afraid we will have to look at more.

“Eric Pickles is a master of smoke and mirrors. He announces plans to extend nursery provision for two and three-year-olds but then cuts the budgets for Sure Start Centres.

“It is also again falling unfairly on the northern councils. We have made cuts equating to £57 for every man, woman and child whereas in George Osborne’s constituency, Tatton, the cutbacks equate to £10 a head.

“This can only lead to more poverty and certainly does not show that we are all in this period of austerity together.

“This is Black Wednesday – the worst day in the history of local government in Kirklees.”

Calderdale Council leader, Clr Tim Swift (inset), said he would be briefed later today on the small print of the Government announcement.

He said: “We still don’t know exactly what it means for us, there’s usually a gap between the Government announcement and us finding out what the cost is to us.

“We were anticipating a reduction on top of the cuts we’ve already made. Our estimate next year was £9m savings already identified and we expected to have to make £5m more.

“We’re having to save £21m by 2015/16 and that’s our best estimate, it could be more. We’ll have to look at what settlement we get to know if that figure will change.

“It’s not going to be easy, we’ve made savings and cuts of £40m (15% of its overall budget).

“Savings are just one side of it though, we’re being hit with increases and demand on services, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, so we’re being squeezed from both sides.”

Clr Swift said the authority’s Labour-Lib Dem coalition would prepare a draft budget for January 11 which will show how they will deal with Eric Pickles’ further cut.

The Government minister told MPs: “The settlement leaves councils with considerable total spending power. So I can announce that the overall reduction in spending power next year will be just 1.7%; 1.7% represents a bargain to local authorities.

“A small number of local authorities will require larger savings to be made but no council will face a loss of more than 8.8% of their total spending power, thanks to a new efficiency support grant.”

Unison, the UK’s largest union, is warning that the 1.7% cut will have a devastating impact on council services and workers and will mean more redundancies and fewer local services.

Heather Wakefield, Unison’s head of local government, said: “Local councils are already under the Government’s financial cosh and the cuts will push many more vital services over the edge.

“By 2013/14 the Spending Review will have cut grants to councils by £4.3bn while handing companies £3.75bn in cuts to Corporation Tax, where is the fairness in that?

“Eric Pickles needs to get into the real world. Around the country libraries, day centres and youth clubs are closing, care is being rationed as eligibility criteria become ever tighter.”

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