COUNCILS have warned that jobs and services are at risk with swingeing cuts to their budget announced this week.

The Welsh Government announced the extent of budget cuts for 2015/16 on Wednesday, with local authorities receiving 3.4 per cent less on average from the previous year.

Monmouthshire fared among the worst with a decrease of 4.3 per cent.

Monmouthshire council leader Peter Fox said: “It is time for Welsh Government to stop the spin about local funding and accept that further cuts of this scale run the risk of creating comprehensive failure across many of our the most highly valued public services delivered by local government in Wales.

"The idea that a distant local government reorganisation, which at a minimum is three financial years away and will costing millions to implement, offers any salvation from these problems really does strain credibility.”

Torfaen’s executive member for resources Cllr Anthony Hunt also warned: “This presents the council with some very difficult future choices in terms of delivering services and protecting the jobs of the people who deliver these services.”

Public services minister Leighton Andrews said: “The settlement I am announcing is challenging but this is a consequence of the large-scale budget reductions being imposed by the UK government.”

The Conservative’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Newport West, Nick Webb, said: “The Welsh Government like to blame their own local government cuts on the UK government, but this is simplistic and does not stand up to scrutiny.

“The Welsh Government receive a block grant for all devolved policy to spend as they see fit. Added to this was a payment equivalent to that made by the UK government to freeze council tax. The Welsh government did not freeze council tax.

"While local government budgets have reduced in England, the scope to raise funds in other ways has increased through schemes such as the New Homes Bonus, retention of business rates and the city deals programme. The Welsh government has not adopted similar policies to empower local government.”

A spokeswoman for Blaenau Gwent Council said: “We have already been working hard to identify further savings and efficiencies through our Transforming Blaenau Gwent Programme and a detailed list of savings proposals will be put forward for discussion shortly. A quick analysis of the announcement made by the Minister this week, indicates that the reduction is is not as high as we had been planning.”