Deeper cuts in council funding will hit Bradford residents hard, Council leader David Green warned last night after new information revealed budgets may be slashed by a further five per cent.

The cuts for 2014-15 and 2015-16 have now been revealed as being at least 15 per cent instead of the ten per cent previously announced.

Fresh figures show the Government plans to redirect cash to pay for social care initiatives and cope with new cost burdens. And funding experts believe this will mean an overall £1.1bn national cut in local government spending.

Coun Green said central government had used “smoke and mirrors” to disguise the depth of economy measures.

“Unfortunately it’s the usual sleight of hand and ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ which we have always seen from central government,” Coun Green said.

“And it’s not good news for the people of the Bradford district. There has been a lack of clarity at a time when we are already facing the hardest cuts and we will struggle to put together a budget which maintains services and still meets the cuts,” he said.

He explained that new ideas were now to be bank-rolled by channelling off money expected to go to metropolitan and other councils. “As far as we can tell, most of the new initiatives will get funding from existing funding streams. They are top-slicing budgets to fund initiatives, and cuts of 15 per cent or above are now expected for Bradford,” he said.

A spokesman for Eric Pickles’ Communities and Local Government department hit back and said councils had to change from a culture of waste and duplication in order to make “sensible” savings.

“Local Government counts for a quarter of all public spending so must play its part in reducing the deficit.”