Six hundreds jobs will be axed at Bradford Council as part of of a £31 million cuts package in 2012/13, its leader warned last night.

Councillor Ian Greenwood has, however, pledged to freeze council tax for a second successive year and he stated his ruling group has no plans to close or sell off key community facilities, such as libraries, community halls or sports centres.

But he said he could not rule out compulsory redundancies among staff in a measure that follows just over 1,000 job cuts in the Council in the last two years.

Full details of the ruling Labour group’s budget proposals were due to be released today and tax payers will then be asked for their views.

The fresh wave of cuts comes on the back of £44m already being stripped out of the authority’s operating budget in 2011/12, after stringent funding cuts passed down by the coalition Government.

The Council’s running costs are expected to be £422m in 2012/13, down from £439m in this financial year.

Coun Greenwood said: “We have already felt the impact of the first year of significant reductions to Council spending and we need to make substantial savings again this year.

“As in 2011/12, difficult decisions will have to be made about the services we do less of, which services we can provide differently and which services we have to stop providing.

“We want to hear your views on how these proposed savings could affect you to ensure that we have taken everything into consideration before we make our final decision.”

The Council’s executive was due to consider Labour’s initial proposals today. Key points include protecting certain services from cuts, such as the regeneration of the city centre and major towns, employment and skills, empty homes, school improvement and children’s centres.

Savings of £4m across departments have been proposed which would affect the majority of services and include rationalising strategic support services.

And £5m would be allocated to adult services to meet the financial pressures associated with an increasingly-older population.

The Council would also receive a one-off grant of £4.1m from the Government if it does not increase council tax next year.

Other political groups were expected to put forward their plans at today’s City Hall meeting.

Councillor Glen Miller, leader of the Conservatives, the second largest group on the Council, said last night: “Due to the state the country’s finances have been left in, cuts do need to be made and with us challenging and holding Labour to account for the last 12 months it would appear they have learnt something.

“I am not claiming that our proposals are going to win any popularity contests, but whose would in this current economic climate? It is within that climate that we have framed our budget around the theme of protecting essential services and helping local residents through the hard times.”

The budget proposals for 2012/13 will be published on the Council’s website and will be available in libraries and Council contact centres, with the consultation period ending on February 7. The details can be found from Monday on the Council’s website at bradford.gov.uk.

Councillors will then take any comments into consideration when they make a final decision on the budget at a meeting of full council on February 23.

e-mail: jo.winrow @telegraphandargus.co.uk