Government forces Council into significant cuts

The Coalition has withdrawn £1.4m of capital and revenue grants to the authority just four months into the financial year, necessitating immediate cuts to a range of grant-aided services.

The austerity measures need to be implemented immediately to avoid the risk of the Council having to make even bigger cuts.

Funding for free swimming in the Borough has been removed by the Government with immediate effect, forcing the authority to withdraw it from the end of July.

And more than £1.27m has been withdrawn from the Council's capital grants, including £660,000 earmarked for an athletics track at Chase High School which will not now go ahead.

The Government is expected to announce further spending reductions later this summer following the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Councillors will meet on Thursday to discuss a report setting out where the cuts will have to be made.

The Council now has to act fast to implement the cuts forced upon it in order to minimise the impact on front-line services.

Council Leader Nigel Holdcroft said: "We are fully aware that these cuts will have a real effect on people across Southend, but we have been left with no choice.

"In-year cuts are always the most difficult to manage because plans have already been made against an expected level of income.

"This is a particularly challenging time for the Council, which has been working extremely hard to minimise the impact on frontline services.

"The pre-budget statement in the autumn will give us a clearer indication of what we can expect over the coming years.

"But we already know we face extremely difficult decisions in the future given the Coalition's announcement about cuts of up to 40 per cent in public sector spending."