NORTH-West councils will see their cash shortfall grow from £2.8billion in 2019/20 to £4.3bn by 2025 claims the Trades Union Congress.

It said central government grants to local authorities in the region have already been cut by 79 per cent since 2010.

The figures come from an analysis of Whitehall funding to councils across the UK published prepared for the TUC and by the New Economics Foundation.

The research compares 2019/20 and 2024/25 local government funding against a baseline of service provision in 2010.

Its findings include that:

• the total funding gap across local government in the North West is £2.8bn in 2019/20;

• under current plans, this gap will grow to £4.3bn in 2024/25;

• the shortfall per person for residents in the North West is £379 in 2019/20; and

• this shortfall will grow to £581 in 2024/25.

The research says that in 2010 central government grants accounted for around half of local authority budgets but by 2025 only small ring-fenced grants will remain, worth just nine per cent of local authority budgets.

Ministers have said that to help plug the gap, North West councils will retain more the business rates they collect.

However the research claims this additional income falls far short of grant cuts.

TUC North-West regional secretary Jay McKenna said: "Working people slogged hard to rescue Britain from the financial crisis. It’s time our local services in the North West got a fair share."