Services at risk as councils face spending cuts

Councils are considering plans to reduce their spending including by cutting up to 170,000 public sector jobs in anticipation of a dramatic downturn in their budgets. Dame Margaret Eaton, chair of the Local Government Association, said that local authorities were being hit by a ‘perfect storm’ in the recession with increased pressure on their services and a squeeze on their budgets. Privately, councils are looking at how to slash their budgets by 15% over the next three years, using projections on the cuts necessary to reduce the £178m public deficit drawn-up by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies.