SAVAGE cuts to local services will continue despite rises in council tax due to an estimated funding gap of £5.8 billion, a cross-party organisation warned yesterday.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said that most councils will need to spend the extra cash raised from tax rises on social care services, which are “at breaking point.”

Councils are being forced “perilously close to the financial edge,” the association said, warning that over the next four years other services such as running children’s centres and libraries, maintaining parks, bin collections and filling potholes will all be affected.

From April, councils can opt to increase bills by up to 1.99 per cent without needing to hold a local referendum. Those with responsibility for social care can increase bills by 3 per cent or more.

The LGA has urged the government to provide the extra funding for social care in its budget for local councils this month.

Public services union Unison’s head of local government Heather Wakefield said: “Relatively small increases in council tax are not nearly enough to properly fund local services.

“The crisis is far too widespread to be solved with simple sticking-plaster solutions. “Local authorities are being pushed to breaking point while the services they provide face collapse or severe cutbacks.

“It’s time to start considering real solutions for funding local government before the services we rely on are gone forever.”