HEALTH services and jobs are facing the axe as town hall chiefs attempt to cope with a 'historic reduction' to a key government grant.

The public health grant received by Bolton Council stood at £24.4m in 2015/16, but has since been slashed, including an in-year cut of £1.3m. The reduction for this financial year is £573k.

A report by David Herne, Bolton Council's director of public health, says finding the savings to accommodate the cut is "increasingly limited" as services covering sexual health and drug and alcohol use are already due to contribute towards a savings target of £2m.

His proposals to cut Bolton Council's 0-19 services and and Community Capacity Team by £190,000 and £268,000 respectively have now been approved for consultation by Cllr Debbie Newall, cabinet member for adult social care.

Cllr Newall said it had been "a very difficult decision" to make.

She said: "Nobody ever wants to cut any services. I think what we have to be mindful of is that the services we have meet the needs of the largest number of people and the council reaches out to lots of people as opposed to individual responses — that's the criteria we have to look at."

Cllr Newall added that the council was making the cuts with deep reluctance.

She said: "I don't want to see any cuts at all, and I certainly don't want to see anybody lose their job. We are hoping that any impact made will be minimal but we won't know that until after the consultation period.

"I'm a great believer in public service, we all are. But year on year we have this onslaught of cuts to our services and you get to the stage where you get down to the bare bones of things, and there's nothing left to cut."

And she pointed the finger squarely at the Tory government for forcing the authority's hand.

She said: "I lay the blame firmly at the feet of the Tory government aided and abetted by their local councillors."

The 0-19 services come under the council's children's chief, Ann Cunliffe, who echoed her colleague's comments.

She said: "Any government cuts to our health services have an impact on all areas, not just 0-19s. It's really against our ethos as we think every child has to have the best possible start in life to give them an extra chance to succeed an be happy."

The number of jobs at risk has not be revealed by either the council or trade union Unison.

But Unison's convenor for adult services, Martin Challender, said: "It's no secret that successive cuts to council funding have had a direct effect on the public health services transferred from the NHS to Bolton Council. A number of jobs are potentially now under threat and the services these people provide. I think central government is entirely to blame for cuts to council funding."

He added that public health services were particularly vital in Bolton due its high rates of conditions such as diabetes.

However the Conservatives' Cllr Andy Morgan rebutted criticism of the government claiming the council had failed to manage its budgets responsibly.

He said: "It's absolute rubbish. When public health came to the council five or six years ago the grant we received was well above what we thought we would get. We knew it would be managed down. It's down to Labour executive members who have continued to fund their pet schemes, such as the breakfast clubs which has no formal feedback. They have got enough money to give away on a whim. We have known for years the grant was going to be reduced for years, they should have managed expectations. It's just a cop out to carry on blaming central government."