BRECKLAND council is looking to cut spending by 10pc in the next year as it prepares for expected severe reduction in government grants.

BRECKLAND council is looking to cut spending by 10pc in the next year as it prepares for expected severe reduction in government grants.

Leader William Nunn told last Tuesday's cabinet meeting that there were predictions that local authorities would get 20-30pc less from Whitehall in 2011.

He said he was asking chief executive Trevor Holden to look at reducing the current spending by 10pc “to be prepared for the potential cuts in public spending.”

Mr Nunn was speaking just before Prime Minister Gordon Brown signalled there would be reductions in public spending.

And the news Breckland tightening its belt came as the authority complained it was missing out on income from the government due to apparent miscalculation of the district population.

Deputy leader Bill Smith said funding was based on “historic figures which do not accurately reflect our true position.”

“We do not receive adequate grant funding. The trend of migration is the most difficult part of the population estimate process. It is the area that we believe to be flawed and inequitable.”

Mr Smith said: “Migrant workers have become an increasingly visible social group within Breckland over the past few years and results in demands on the council which are not reflected in the grant formulae.”