A REDUCTION in the amount of money being given to the council by the government has been described as ‘disappointing’ by Swindon Council leader David Renard.

Last week, the Government announced the financial settlement for all local authorities as it looks to cut the national deficit.

It was said that Swindon's spending power would fall by just 0.1 per cent but this has still left the council needing to find almost £1m of extra savings.

The money is given to councillors in the form of grants and when they are added up there has been a significant drop.

Early next year, councillors must agree to a balanced budget for the 2015/16 financial year.

A draft budget was published earlier this month based on a predicted amount but the actual figure is worse than thought, meaning extra money will be required to fill gaps.

Last month, Coun David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick) was one of more than 100 local authority leaders to sign an open letter to the government calling for an end to council budget cuts.

He said: “I am disappointed with the amount which is being given. We created a draft budget which was being very pessimistic and this is worse than that.

“We all have to live within our means and I support the government’s attempts to cut the deficit but I have said that I feel local authorities have had to bear a disproportionate amount.

“The fact is all 57 councillors have to agree to a balanced budget next year. We have always had a good track record of budgeting so we have to make some decisions over the next two months.”

The draft budget showed that almost £1m of savings would have to be found if council tax was not raised, and following this latest announcement, that figure has now almost doubled.

He added: “As we have said, raising tax is something being considered but we will make a decision around February time.

“We have seen an increase of more than £1m in the New Homes Bonus so there are positives.”

The Swindon Labour group slammed the Government and said the reduction in funding would impact on people’s lives.

Group Leader Jim Grant (La, Rodbourne Cheney) said: “It’s more likely that there will be a council-tax increase and it will mean that there will have to be more cuts to council services without any consultation with local residents.

“These cuts could be to road resurfacing, grounds maintenance or services to older people.”