Monmouthshire County Council`s cabinet member for resources, Councillor Phil Murphy, has expressed his disappointment at the Local Government Minister`s statement that local government can expect a further cut in funding of 4.5 per cent next year. Welsh Government Minister Lesley Griffiths told councils across Wales to be ready for a range of cuts between 1.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent with fears expressed by council leaders that this will see more money funnelled into the Welsh NHS rather than local councils. Councils across the country have hit out at the news with Tory - Lib Dem partnership led Monmouthshire County Council claiming the cuts are being made to help failing parts of the public sector. Councillor Phil Murphy said, "Monmouthshire has been in a better position than most to deal with the huge cuts to local government funding over the past few years. We plan our finances well and have made radical cost saving changes to the way we run ourselves. "Our willingness to innovate, to trust our staff and to work on a desk ratio of two people to one desk has enabled us to slash back office costs. "As a result of this, we are one of the few local authorities in the UK to have avoided cutting services. But that may have to change." "Following Welsh Government advice, we had allowed for a cut of 2.3 per cent in our funding for next year. But it now looks as if we'll have to cut a further £2 million over and above that. "This will place an intolerable burden on frontline services - services that have made great advances in delivering at lower cost. "It cannot simply be left to local government to slash the services that people rely upon because other parts of the public sector have failed to make any meaningful savings – and in fact seem to be rewarded for this failure. "The Welsh Government cannot continue to allocate more and more resources to the NHS while local government, the body that provides services that keep people out of hospital and NHS services, is denied the resources to do just that." These concerns have been further voiced by other counties across the country, and last month leader of the Welsh Local Government association, and Leader of Torfaen Council, Bob Wellington spoke about the threat to council finances. Speaking at the WLGA conference in Llandudno, Councillor Wellington made clear cut comments about the introduction of "English-style cuts" and the dangers of squeezing the budgets of local authorities until they are "empty vessels" Speaking after the conference Councillor Wellington said "By 2018 local councils could be managing a potential budget shortfall of up to £900 million, and we urgently require an open public debate about the role and value of local government and local public services. "What we need to see is a continuation of the relative protection that Welsh Government has afforded local councils in the past, as we work to strategically reshape our local services so that they can meet the significant demands that will be placed on them in the future. "This latest indication supports our view that a complete recasting of the expectations of Welsh Government for councils must occur. "A promised reorganisation of local government some six years away will do nothing to assist this. " A new reality must now prevail in terms of what councils can realistically be expected to deliver." More detailed information about the cuts is expected over the coming months but speaking to the Chronicle Councillor Murphy warned that although not inevitable, service cuts could not be ruled out. "There comes a time when what can be done with a decreasing pot of money is affected," said Councillor Murphy. "In the past we have avoided cuts to front line services but we that may not be the case indefinitely. I'm asking officers to go away and look at ways of making savings and telling them 'don't tell me this can't be done; tell me how it can be done'"