Taxpayers will still face rises in their council bills next year, despite local authorities getting bigger Government handouts.

Chancellor Gordon Brown warned town hall leaders to keep council tax rises in low, single figures next year after coming up with a last-minute £1 billion windfall for local authorities.

The annual settlements were better than Sussex councils had feared but they were still some of the lowest in Britain.

In total, Brighton and Hove City Council will get a four per cent rise, from £185.8 million in 2004/5 to £193.2 million in 2005/6.

East Sussex receives a 4.1 per cent rise, from £284.6 million to £296.3 million, and West Sussex gets a 4.3 per cent boost, from £401.5 million to £418.8 million.

Brighton and Hove's settlement will mean an estimated five per cent rise in council tax bills. An average family living in a Band D home would have to pay £1,219.93p from April - £58 more than this year - according to council estimates.

Finance councillor Simon Burgess said taxpayers would not face the 6.9 per cent hike originally feared.

The Labour member will still have to find £5.6 million in cuts across the council for the budget for next year.

There will be no extra cash in the schools budget to pay the wages being demanded by striking teaching assistants, he confirmed.

He said: "We are relatively pleased with the announcement but I'm not going to be jumping for joy.

"We will have to find £1.4 million less in savings than we expected - this is a significant difference and means we'll not be slashing services."

But the Conservative opposition group at the council were angry with the Government for not providing more cash.

Finance spokesman Brian Oxley said: "There are still going to be significant tax rises and cuts in essential services.

"While the chancellor Gordon Brown goes around boasting about national figures he should remember these do not apply to Brighton and Hove."

West Sussex County Council was equally disgruntled because its 4.3 per cent increase was the second lowest in Britain, after East Sussex County Council's 4.1 per cent rise.

West Sussex council's leader Henry Smith said: "I am weary that yet again West Sussex has received an appalling settlement from Government, the second lowest in the country.

"Social services has lost out because we have the lowest increase of any county and we also have had a very low settlement for the fire services."

Councillor Tony Reid, deputy leader of Tory-run East Sussex County Council, wrote to ministers earlier this month urging them not to land them with a second successive harsh settlement.

Last year, the authority received a Government increase in its revenue support grant of just 3.8 per cent, or £10 million. The national average was six per cent.

Local government minister Nick Raynsford told the Commons local authorities needed to be "remorseless in the pursuit of efficiency" and threatened to use capping powers to keep council tax rises to a minimum.