A FURTHER 640 jobs could be axed at Bradford Council as the authority prepares for budget cuts of £120 million over the next four years.

Council leader David Green called the proposals "gut-wrenching" but he also warned the situation could get even worse when details of Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement are revealed tomorrow.

Frontline services are set to be cut across the board, including reduced amounts for adult and children's services, potential library closures, a 20 per cent decrease in winter gritting, and an end to Council funding for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).

The Labour group, which runs the Council, has now produced a draft budget to go before its executive next week before the plans are put out to public consultation.

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Cllr Green told the Telegraph & Argus that £60m needed to be cut over the next two years with the proposed budget covering everything bar a £6m shortfall which still needed to be identified for 2017/18.

"All this comes before the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, where we are expecting further savage cuts to local government, and quite possibly an acceleration of the cuts we already know about," said Cllr Green.

"We've taken money out of efficiency savings, management, buildings, administration, all the things you would expect us to do.

"Most of it, in the end, is going to be jobs. We think 641 full-time equivalent posts are under threat."

The Council has reduced its spending by more than £172m since 2011 due to a combination of Government cuts, increased demand, and rising costs, said Cllr Green.

An additional £7.5m has been raised through increases in Council tax, and the authority is proposing an increase of 1.6 per cent in each of the next two years, equating to a rise of £1.54 a month for a Band D household.

Despite being classed as the 18th most deprived district in the country since 2011, the Council, which employs about 11,000 people, said its spending power had been reduced by nearly £220 per person, a figure it said was more than five times higher than those in the ten wealthiest authorities.

In this financial year it is budgeted to spend £420.6m.

"I think we've got to the point where the policy towards local government, if they do what we fear they're going to do over the next four years, many local authorities will become unviable," said Cllr Green.

"Bradford would probably reduce to providing the minimum statutory services.

"I've been a councillor for 25 years, and this is the most dire financial predicament local authorities have found themselves in at any point during that time."

Other cuts included in the consultation include fewer staff delivering adult social care, which accounts for 30 per cent of the Council's total budget, a reduction in funding for educational services, further cuts to youth services, and all but the seven most heavily-used libraries - City, Manningham, Eccleshill, Shipley, Bingley, Keighley, and Ilkley - becoming community-managed.

Bin collections would change from weekly to alternate weeks, a charge of £40 a year would be introduced for those wanting green waste collection, some selected street lights would be turned off between midnight and 5am, and rate relief would be reduced for non-profit organisations.

"We will listen to what is said in the consultation," said Cllr Green.

"But this has been the hardest, most gut-wrenching budget process that we've been in, and we've been doing this horrible stuff since 2010.

"If people come back with alternative ideas, then they'll be seriously considered. However, the reality is a minimum of £120million cuts over the next four years."

Councillor Simon Cooke, leader of the Council's Conservative group, lambasted the Labour group for how it published its proposals.

"It is becoming an annual routine that the Labour Council releases the budget to the press, before releasing it to nearly 50 per cent of council members, which is undemocratic and totally unacceptable.

"I will make comments when I have had chance to read the document."

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the authority's Liberal Democrat group, said: "We have to challenge every penny.

"We keep crying saying we have got no money, yet we still spend millions renovating buildings.

"We are still borrowing money to build new swimming pools for example, when people are suffering cuts to their social care."

On the cuts to PCSOs, Cllr Green said the £1.2m the Council spends to help fund 120 officers would be withdrawn.

In response, West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson, said: "Government cuts of more than 30 per cent to the policing budget are already having a significant impact on how we do business, and an additional round of cuts of between 25 per cent and 40 per cent are due to be announced in the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) this week.

"The stark reality of these cuts means that it will be very difficult to maintain the current levels of PCSOs, although I will be in conversation with Bradford Council and others following the CSR announcement."

Dee Collins, Temporary Chief Constable for West Yorkshire Police, added: "Our Police Community Support Officers play an invaluable role in keeping people safe and over the years have become truly embedded within our communities.

"The feedback which we have received from residents and partners alike, absolutely reflect this, and I am determined to ensure that PCSOs remain an integral part of our future."

The draft budget will be discussed by the Council's executive on December 1.