Northamptonshire county service budget cut by £40m

Spending on county council services in Northamptonshire is to be reduced by up to £40m this year.

The council has an overall budget of about £1bn and employs 17,000 people. Cuts of £21m were revealed when the budget was published in February.

The government has told the council it had cut its grant aid by £9m.

Bill Parker, responsible for finance on the council, said some departments were already overspent and they would need to make further savings this year.

"There was pressure on the budgets already before the government announcement, so now we have to take another £9m out.

"When the budget was set in February we said we would have to cut by an additional £21m.

"So now we're looking at cuts of £35m to £40m and that is going to bring tremendous pressure, but it's something we have to do."