Bradford Council is facing funding cuts of £67 million in the next two financial years, the Government has announced.

Although the blow is not quite as severe as the worst case scenario the Council had feared, its leader Ian Greenwood last night warned there would be a “massive” impact on jobs and services.

The Government’s settlement, announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, means the local authority’s budget, including ring-fenced grants, totals £958.2m – £492.2m for 2011/12 and £466m for 2012/13. It means it is £12.9m better off than Bradford’s doomsday forecast.

But the Council’s spending power will fall by 8.8 per cent in 2011/12 – a figure Councillor Greenwood estimates could be closer to 13 per cent taking into account grant reductions which last night were still being validated by the authority’s financial chiefs.

The following year will bring reductions of four per cent before slashes to grants.

The Council is now consulting on its spending priorities and it will be February, when the budget is set, that the real evidence of the cuts will be known.

Coun Greenwood said: “The cuts for the next financial year will still have a massive affect on us. It’s still several thousand jobs almost certainly, it’s still a massive effect on frontline services and it’s still people not getting the services they so desperately need.

“Whoever is at fault for the downturn it’s not the most vulnerable people of our communities and it’s not the people who work for the Council. This is a politically-motivated attempt to reduce the size of the state lodged in Conservative political dogma and it’s not a response that is needed. Spending reductions could have been slower.”

He said some of the Shire counties had got away lightly compared to Bradford, such as North Yorkshire which faces a 2.05 per cent cut next year and Dorset where the 2011/12 budget is actually increased by 0.25 per cent.

Coun Greenwood said: “The most needy people in the country are having more aggressive funding cuts than communities under less stress.”

He said the Council had been taking action for months to secure substantial savings, including cutting bureaucracy and duplication, and prioritising our available resources on the vital services local people need.

  • For more details on this story see Tuesday's Telegraph & Argus