PARISH councillors in Oxenhope said they are struggling to understand the implications of further cuts to Bradford Council services.

Commenting at their latest meeting, they responded to a reminder that the latest district council budget is now out to public consultation.

Cllr David Ashcroft said he would like the parish council’s concern over plans for a £161,000 reduction in Bradford Council support grants to town and parish councils to be noted. He said such a loss of funding would be “very unfortunate.”

Reacting to district council recommendations to make cuts to its street cleaning, he asked: “What is the full impact going to be? It’s difficult to make a constructive comment without knowing all the implications.

“We need to know what process there will be for us to make representations on behalf of Oxenhope to ensure the village gets a fair deal.”

Bradford Council’s draft budget is out to consultation until January 27 next year.

As previously reported, the proposals feature cuts in most district council departments except Children’s and Adults Services, and require Bradford to make £13.5 million in savings for 2019-20, with a further £19.9 million needed in 2020-21.

If approved, the budget would see council tax rise by 2.99 per cent from April.

Bradford Council’s leadership said they are having to contend with huge Government cuts to local authorities. They point out the district council’s budget in 2020 will be half of what it was in 2010.