Proposals to axe almost 200 jobs at Southampton City Council will go out to consultation.

As revealed in the Daily Echo last Tuesday, cash-strapped council bosses need to save £30.8 million for next year’s budget alone.

And they have decided to bring forward £7.7 million of cuts to this year in a bid to save more money.

The proposals, which were approved by the council’s Cabinet yesterday and will now go out to consultation with trade unions and affected staff, could see 195 jobs lost.

Day services for 270 people with learning disabilities in the city could also be axed, while the Woodside Lodge care home for people with dementia could be closed down.

Even after proposing the £7.7 million “mini-budget” proposals and finding another £4.5 million in one-off pots of cash, Labour council bosses still need to find another £17.3 million of savings for their 2015/16 budget.

And they will then need to find another £45.5 million in savings over the following two years.

Following consultation, the proposals could be approved in September.

Ruling Labour chiefs say they have been forced into making the cuts due to ever-decreasing Government grant funding, but the Conservative opposition accused them of “betraying” residents after they made a promise to save jobs in 2012, and said the cuts could have been avoided if the council had shared and outsourced more services.