A FRESH wave of millions of pounds of austerity cutbacks will see services residents are legally entitled to, such as care for the elderly, stripped back over the next few years, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Local authorities across the region said last night recent Government announcements, including council tax limitations, had left them facing a combined budget black hole running into tens of millions of pounds.

Councillors said they faced an uphill battle to stop the most vulnerable members of society bearing the brunt of the cuts and were examining how they could pare back statutory services.

Simon Henig, leader of Durham County Council, said: “This is what spending and austerity cuts mean. It has a real impact on the ground and these impacts will be accelerating.”

He said County Durham’s Government funding was now set to fall by £11.6m and the authority would have to make an additional £46m of savings, possibly more, as part of a six-year drive to cut its budget.

Coun Henig added: "We have said £46m, but it could be more than that. The Government are not listening, even to their own councils."

Its North Yorkshire counterpart, which launched a £69m drive to reduce costs earlier this year, is investigating how it can implement a further £48m of efficiencies over the next four years.

While Darlington Borough Council said the £10m it needed to save over the next four years had soared by 25 per cent in recent weeks, both Middlesbrough and Stockton councils said they were preparing to make another round of cuts.

The Local Government Association has predicted that by 2020 councils could face a £16.5bn shortfall and they would only be able to provide services such as adult care and refuse collection.

Councillor Gareth Dadd, North Yorkshire’s highways chief, said the council now had to reduce its budget by a third.

He said: “Every service will be looked at under the microscope.

“I am not prepared to stand by and watch the most vulnerable members of our community affected if there are opportunities to cut costs in back offices or by stopping cutting grass verges.”

Details of the latest cuts facing the authority emerged days after North Yorkshire residents were told the county was facing a “nightmare” NHS debt crisis that would leave no hospital untouched and could even see some GP surgeries close.

The large and rapidly rising elderly population in England’s largest county are expected to be among those hardest hit by the NHS cutbacks and councillors said last night they would battle to stop the same group becoming the most severely affected by its cuts as 39 per cent of its budget went on health and adult services.

Coun John Watson, North Yorkshire’s finance chief, said the need for extra cutbacks had emerged over the past three weeks, after “reading the small print” of Treasury announcements and receiving a £3m repairs bill following the recent floods.

Some members of the Conservative-led council admitted they had been “naive” in taking Government statements at face value.

They said they were dismayed when it recently emerged that the £1bn flagship initiative the Coalition unveiled in May to provide free nursery education for two-year-olds would be funded with money earmarked for councils’ Sure Start children’s centre schemes.

Other causes of the extra cutbacks include the Government’s New Homes Bonus scheme and its localised business rates initiative.

Council tax rises to cover the deficits are being ruled out by some authorities as they would have to hold a referendum to significantly raise precepts and councillors feel tax rises would be unlikely to win popular support.

North Yorkshire county councillor John Clark said: “It seems incredible that the vulnerable and poor are facing this, but those who caused this situation and those who make a vast amount of money are not being touched.”