Public services face being squeezed again after the latest round of Government funding cuts, the deputy leader of Hull City Council has warned.
The council learned today that its budget will be slashed by £24m for the financial year to 2016.
Although officials had been forewarned and the decision comes as no surprise, they said it would be tough to find more areas where the axe could fall.
Nonetheless, the authority has a legal obligation to make the cuts.
Deputy council leader Daren Hale said: "Whilst we have been planning for continued reductions in funding, the fact is, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make the decisions needed to balance the budget.
"Although we haven't received an indication as to what future years' reductions will be, we expect continued cuts to follow, as outlined broadly in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement.
"With continued cuts to funding it is inevitable there will be an impact on public services."
The Government claims Hull will see a 5.7 per cent reduction in its budget, but the council says, in reality, it is facing a 15 per cent cut.
That is because the council is being given an extra £10m of money which previously went to the NHS and is already being spent on services elsewhere.
Cllr Hale said: "It's not additional money, because there are more people and more contracts attached to that."
The authority has lost about £228 per person since 2010, Cllr Hale said.
This year, it lost 10p in every pound spent, a figure that will rise to 15p next year.
The city's Labour MPs condemned the decision.
Hull North MP Diana Johnson said: "It's crystal clear this Coalition Government will continue singling out the poorest people in the most deprived areas for the heaviest cuts if they are re-elected next May.
"Such is the relentless severity of these annual cuts, no matter what efficiency savings are found locally to protect frontline services as much as possible, these basic local services, those who work hard providing them and council taxpayers, will pay the price for this Government's unfairness to Hull."
Ms Johnson said Hull City Council had been forced to deal with a 25 per cent budget drop between 2010 and 2015.
The average cut for 2015 to 2016 is 1.8 per cent, she said, while some authorities were being given more money. The East Riding is facing a 1.2 per cent cut, according to the Government figures.
Hull East MP Karl Turner called the decision "staggering".
He said: "It seems perverse the Government is making the biggest cuts to the most deprived councils and it beggars belief Hull has seen a cut that is almost four per cent greater than the UK average.
"Further cuts to Hull City Council's funding can only mean local councillors are forced to close, or further reduce, non-statutory services."
The council is now preparing a draft budget, which will include details of cutbacks.
It will be considered by the cabinet early in the new year, and will go before councillors for a vote on February 26.
