A further 500 jobs could be lost at Stoke on Trent City Council as the town hall attempts to save £30.9m.

Council leader Mohammed Pervez conceded an anticipated £15.3m fall in central government funding meant the local authority ‘simply can’t do everything we once did’.

Some 1,800 staff have already left the local authority over the past four years, the town hall having made over £97m in savings since 2010.

Stoke on Trent anticipates unavoidable cost pressures over 2015/16 will reach £9.3m, while the price of increasing demand for services will stand at £6.3m.

Plans put to consultation today would launch a ‘fundamental redesign’ of services across the authority’s business support and professional services, alongside accelerated efforts to transform adult social care and use of digital technology.

However the council has committed to continue freezing council tax for the third straight year, while investing an additional £2.1m in children’s social care and £2m in learning disability services.

Pervez said: ‘While we are operating in an extremely difficult financial environment, our investment plans are centred on looking after our most in-need residents, protecting statutory services as well as building a great working city – one which is in the best possible position to support jobs and growth.

‘We have already been forced to make some really difficult decisions over the last four years, with 1,800 staff leaving the authority. This challenge is clearly getting tougher not only for 2015/16 but in the years ahead.

‘This is a budget that not only addresses pressures imposed on us by government but invests in key areas to support our people and has economic prosperity at the heart of all that we do,’ he added.

Public consultation on the budget proposals will continue until January 15, being set at a full council meeting on February 26.