WHEN it comes to passing the municipal budget in February, councillors find themselves in an invidious position. Since 2010, over £140 million has been slashed by central Government in grant support to Brighton and Hove City Council.

Imagine a 40 per cent reduction in your annual income. What would you do? Depending on individual circumstances you could make up the shortfall by cutting back on personal or household expenditure. You could try and find a job paying a higher wage. Or you could temporarily borrow money or use savings (if you have them) until your income improves.

Of course, thousands of residents have been forced to do all or some of these things as wages have stagnated or fallen since 2008. As the OBR reported recently, Many people on average and low incomes will be earning no more in 2020 than they were in 2003 – a shocking legacy of falling living standards not seen since the Great Depression.

The council is not immune from these forces. If we raise income, via council tax or business rates, then we risk hitting the poor even harder or driving away entrepreneurs. It means the only legal way to balance the budget is through spending reductions.

The Conservative party locally is in total denial of the scale of the damage their Government is doing to councils. Meanwhile, the Greens wield their placards believing there is some magic money tree that the Labour administration has got squirrelled away.

It all makes for a depressing few months ahead. The city is not in for a very happy new year. And all because of failed austerity and the burying of heads in sand.

Councillor Tom Bewick represents Westbourne ward