Council leaders have told the Chancellor they ‘desperately need’ more funding in the Spending Review as financial experts warn ‘unprotected’ government departments could face cuts.

Researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned ‘uncomfortable trade-offs loom’ for the Treasury because ministers had ‘front-loaded’ spending in the early years of this parliament.

They said that an increase in funding for the NHS at around the historically average rate would mean imposing cuts on unprotected departments.

‘At the Spending Review, the government faces some unavoidably tough choices, particularly as after turning on the spending taps last autumn, the flow of additional funding is now set to slow to more of a trickle,’ commented IFS research economist Bee Boileau.

Responding to the IFS’ report, Cllr Pete Marland, chair of the Local Government Association’s Economy and Resources Board, said councils had already made ‘huge’ savings over the past decade and now ‘desperately need’ a funding boost.

‘Without adequate funding, councils will continue to struggle to provide crucial services – with devastating consequences for those who rely on them – and it will be impossible for them to help the Government achieve its reform and growth agenda,’ he added.

Cllr Tim Oliver, chair of the County Councils Network, said the Spending Review will ‘make or break the budgets of county and rural unitary councils’.

‘It is almost unthinkable to imagine the situation getting worse, but a real-terms cut in the Spending Review for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Budget would be just that,’ he said.