WELWYN Hatfield Council will have to cut its budget over the next four years by more than 28 per cent, following the Government’s Spending Review announcement today (Wednesday).

That’s slightly higher than the 25 per cent the council had been expecting.

In the House of Commons this afternoon, Chancellor George Osborne announced all local councils in England would have to cut spending by 7.1 per cent for four years.

Welwyn Hatfield Council had already earmarked �1.7m in savings from next year’s budget and had planned to find a further �2m, working on the basis that the cuts would be 25 per cent.

Welwyn Hatfield Council chief executive Michel Saminaden said: “In anticipation of the forthcoming spending cuts, Welwyn Hatfield Council has been giving detailed consideration to all areas of expenditure and has set itself tight budget targets.

“Today’s announcements on the Spending Review is in line with our expectation, so we are going to continue with our current budget planning framework.

“However, the precise extent of what it will mean will not be known until the Formula Grant settlement which is due in late November/early December.”