A SAVAGE hit list of cuts and savings worth more than £8m has been unveiled by Southampton's ruling Tories to balance next year's council budget.

One leading opposition politician accused the Conservative of launching a "massive attack" on families leaving some services "stripped back to the bone".

The budget package would result in a 2.99 per cent council tax rise next year - the lowest in the history of the unitary authority.

The bill for an average B and D household would increase by about £34 from £1,135 to £1,169.

A total of 99 jobs, including 33 vacancies, would be axed alongside £2.7m of service cuts.

The schools budget will be slashed the most with a cull of 48 jobs.

Funding will be withdrawn from play services and those to tackle badly behaved children.

The city's 14 secondary schools will lose £580,000 of "social inclusion" grants while a residential unit for the most troublesome youngsters will be shut down.

Tories claim schools should make up the cutbacks from direct Government grants.

Family centres will be effectively merged into Sure Start children's centres.

Leisure and cultural services also take a heavy hit.

Tories plan to go ahead with a proposal to axe free swimming for under-sevens. It will affect almost 5,000 children who signed up to the popular scheme, launched in 2006.

Oaklands Leisure Centre will close at weekends, from 11.30am on Saturday, while St Mary's Leisure Centre hours will be reduced.

Three cricket pitches and four football pitches will also be closed.

The Turner Sims concert hall, Nuffield Theatre, Art Asia and City Eye, will all see their grants slashed.

Only the council reliant Mount Pleasant Media Workshop will survive art grants cuts.

Elsewhere neighbourhood partnerships, seen as an ineffective "talking shop" by Tory chiefs will be scrapped and more cash and support given to residents' associations.

The £173m budget - which will need the backing of opposition councillors to pass - would also bring in a controversial and costly ten per cent council tax discount for over 65s households.

Council tax for special constables would be scrapped.

Tory Cabinet member for resources, Councillor Jeremy Moulton, said: "Despite the chronic underfunding of Southampton by the government the Conservatives are keeping our promise to deliver a real terms reduction in council tax.

"This is the lowest council tax increase ever, we are delivering real value for money for the taxpayer and we have shown that we have listened carefully to the views of residents.

"We have undergone the most wide-ranging and comprehensive consultation ever and taken on board the vast majority of things that residents have told us are important."

But Labour group leader Councillor June Bridle said: "Their proposals give a small handout to few pensioners at the expense of massive attack on families."

She added: "Some services are being stripped back to the bone. They are leaving some small amounts of money which means services are almost unviable."

Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Adrian Vinson said: "It's a bad budget A budget of gimmicks and stunts which hits key services.

"It's poor value for money and will adversely effect every citizen of Southampton."

Unison branch secretary Mike Tucker added: "It's the highest ever number of people in post threatened with redundancy. They are making political choices to sacrifice jobs and services to buy the votes of over 65s."

Residents will face an extra £1m of charges for council services.

Charges will be introduced for replacement bins and fridge/freezer collections, while those for museums and car parking go up. The renowned oral history unit will be axed.

Little used bus routes will be axed as the council withdraws subsidies from operators. About half the total savings will come from efficiencies.

Some U-turns were made to proposals in a draft budget published in October. They followed meetings with affected groups and organisations.

Cllr Bridle accused the Tories of causing unnecessary stress.

She said: "People who use these services have been put through hell. It's a disgrace all the pressure that has been put on people just to play political games."

The popular Ropewalk Neighbourhood Advice Centre, which gives help relating to housing, landlords and tenants and welfare benefits, was spared any cut.

The Cobbett Road library survives another round of cuts after more protests and petitions although four others - Burgess Road, Woolston, Thornhill and Weston libraries - will face closures at quieter times.

A ten per cent hike in charges for non-residential care was scrapped following a billing fiasco that meant about 1,400 disabled and elderly didn't get their bills for up to four months.

A community language service which teaches ethnic minorities their native language and lets them get a GCSE in it will see its budget trimmed rather than axed.

The proposed cut attracted the most objections, more than one third made to the council.

The council received 1,035 responses to the Conservative's draft budget.

Unions will face a less harsh reductions in funding.

A U-turn on cuts to the hours of free bus travel for over 60s had already been announced with extra funding to retain full eligibility in the city for disabled passengers and their companions.



Cuts at a glance

Efficiencies £4.4m Income £1.03m Cuts £2.75m Total Savings £8.17m

Click the links below to see the full list of cuts, broken down by directorate