Householders in Brighton and Hove are going to have a nasty shock when council tax bills pop through the letter box next spring.

They were going to be increased by about five per cent, at least double the rate of inflation, which was bad enough. But it's now likely the rise could be double that.

The Government has failed to take account of Brighton and Hove Council's special problems with social care, homelessness and street cleaning in its grant and standard spending allowance assessments.

Even with the measures taken so far, such as not filling most vacancies, the authority is still likely to be overspent by more than £4 million at the end of the financial year.

There's scope for further economies in some of the radical reforms being proposed by new chief executive David Panter, which should avoid duplications and join up services that should be together.

The council must also ensure its new committee system is efficient and effective, otherwise this will lead to extra costs which it cannot afford.