THE news that Wirral council is set for a £12 million budget shortfall has sparked a furious row over the causes of the problem.

Labour say the Tory government's austerity programme is to blame, as £250 million has been taken from the local authority's budget since 2010 – but the Conservatives say that argument lets the Labour-run council off the hook.

Labour councillor Janette Williamson, cabinet member for finance, said: "We are working our way through the £250 million of cuts since 2010.

"We've done this without giving out compulsory redundancies.

"There's also huge demand pressures on adult and child care services.

"As well as reducing our ability to help people, austerity is increasing demand for services [as it exacerbates poverty]. But we're working really hard to avoid losing services."

Despite this, Cllr Williamson said the shortfall would have to be made up by spending cuts, as the council will not go into its reserves and does not want to raise council tax.

"Going into reserves is not really an option.

"Once they're spent, they've got to be replaced.

"We're just under the level of reserves we should have at the moment, so it would not be prudent to go into them.

"Council Tax rises are available up and down the country.

"I feel really sad that Wirral is expected to make up the shortfall from central government.

"No decision has been made yet, but I don't feel a rise in Council Tax would be fair on residents."

Cllr Williamson was vague on where spending cuts would come from, but said each budget would be scrutinised "line by line" to eliminate any unnecessary expense.

"We will review every single contract to see where there can be savings, but what we're not going to do is give specifics today.

"It's very important to have trade union buy-in, our workers have been brilliant throughout this process and we need to work with them.

"We will also work to bring money in where we can."

However, the Conservatives said the responsibility for the budget crisis lay closer to home.

Cllr Ian Lewis, leader of the Tories in Wirral Council, said: "Labour has been crying wolf for 10 years while continuing to waste money on senior salaries, management consultants and vanity projects.

"For 10 years, they have known the grant from the government was being phased out and replaced with Business Rates.

"Other councils have used that time to make the changes needed and to encourage new businesses to set up, to create the revenue the council needs.

"Wirral, instead, has wasted that time and squandered opportunities. Labour always runs out of other people’s money in the end."