AN EXTRA £11.5 million will have to be slashed from Hounslow Council's budget in 2015/16 following the latest cut in local government funding, it has been estimated.
The council was already committed to cuts of £12m this year and next, on top of the £36m saved over the last two years, after the last swathe of cuts by central government in 2010.
But Wednesday's (June 26) latest spending round announcement means it will have to dig even deeper to find further savings in 2015/16, according to council leader Jagdish Sharma.
Treasury chiefs plan to slash basic local authority spending by 10 per cent in real terms for that year, though they claim this reduces to 2.3 per cent when additional grants are taken into account.
The final settlements for individual councils have yet to be announced but Mr Sharma said he, or whoever is running the council after next year's elections, would have to make extra savings of £11.5m in 2015/16 as a result.
The Local Government Association, which represents councils across the country, said the cut would stretch essential services to 'breaking point', with leisure facilities and school support among the most at risk sectors.
But Mr Sharma said Hounslow would look to absorb the cuts by increasing efficiency and sharing more services with other councils, as it has already done with parking regulation.
"Hounslow is almost unique in managing to cut council tax in the face of huge spending pressures and a massive fall in government funding over the last three years," he said.
"We have been able to do this by being innovative and efficient. However, it looks as though the Government has taken the easy route to savings again by taking the axe to local government funding and passing the heaviest cuts on to councils and local communities.
"Although we need more detail from the Government, it looks as though we will have to find at least an extra £12m in savings for 2014/15 and up to £11.5 million in 2015/16, thanks to its proposed 10 per cent cut.
"We will look to do this by continuing to making every penny count and looking to share more services with other councils."
