AN AREA of Teesside's council reeling from mass job losses could be left with no Government grant at all by the end of the decade, it has been claimed in a council report.

The progress report to Labour-run Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's cabinet committee explained the council is already anticipating finding £11m savings from next year's budget due to the closure of the SSI steelworks.

The Resources report also anticipated the authority, which has made £53m of savings and shed 1,000 jobs since 2010, could face a 25 per cent to 40 per cent cut in its Government grant in the period leading up to 2020, despite dealing with the closure of steelworks and hundreds more job losses at nearby Boulby Potash Mine.

Redcar and Cleveland council received £27.6m from the Government last year and a 40 per cent cut up to 2020 would amount to a further £11m. However fears were expressed in the report, discussed at the council's Heart centre in Redcar on Thursday, that by 2020 the Government could end all funding to the local authority.

The report, presented by Cabinet Member for Resources, Christopher Massey, said: "The council continues to deal with drastic cuts to our revenue support grant provided to us by the Government and anticipate that this support could completely cease by the end of the decade."

He added: "These cuts in local authority support have been felt disproportionately by northern councils, particularly those on Teesside. Whilst wealthy, often Conservative-led, councils in the south of England have seen practically no cuts to their overall budgets, Redcar and Cleveland and many other deprived northern councils have seen a staggering reduction in their revenue support grant. The Independent newspaper reported in 2015 that this Conservative Government was reducing the spending power of local authorities in the most deprived areas of the country by an average of £275.69 a head, whereas in the most affluent areas this average cut was only £23.19."

However councillors at the same Redcar council Cabinet meeting discussed the £80m package allocated by the Government to help former steel workers and the area deal with the blow to the economy. Not all that money has gone to the council, but the meeting heard that the authority had received £16.5m for jobs and skills investment and training, £16m to help supply chain workers, £2.4m for families in crisis and £750,000 for a business advice fund.

Leading members of the council's Conservative Group could not be contacted for comment yesterdayFRI, however Conservative Group leader, Cllr Valerie Halton has previously criticised Labour administrations for failing to take advantage of Government grants available for freezing council tax increases.