Dudley Council 'to cut £60m' over three years

The council said the settlement from the government in the summer was worse than expected

Dudley Council will have to cut £60m in the next three years - a further £32m than first predicted, officials say.

Proposals to cut £25.8m go before the council's cabinet on 30 October.

But government funding agreed in the summer was "considerably worse" than expected, the Labour-run local authority said.

The latest cuts mean more than 330 jobs could go. There have already been more than 500 voluntary redundancies in the past three years.

'More work'

In March, the authority approved plans to freeze its portion of council tax for the next year.

However, a spokesman said on Wednesday it would "leave no stone unturned" in looking to find ways of making further savings and delivering services.

Councillor Pete Lowe, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said they would be consulting the public on ways in which to make the cuts.

"The reality is that we received a settlement from national government in the summer which was considerably worse than anyone could have planned for and it leaves us with more work to do."