EALING Council will meet tomorrow to decide how it can best cope with a 'black hole' as its funding is slashed by 50 per cent.

The council must save £205 million from its budget over the next decade, leaving it with less than half what it had to spend on services in 2010.

Councillors are warning some services will change beyond recognition and could soon be funded entirely through council tax, business rates and direct charges.

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of the council, said: “This is the fifth consecutive year our government has slashed our funding and each time it becomes more difficult to make the savings.

“We have a growing and ageing population and the demands on many of our services are only increasing.”

The council will consider a number of ways to make further savings, including promoting self-care for through the Shared Lives programme, which places adults with learning disabilities in family homes.

It will also consider renegotiating social care contracts, and seeking more foster carers, as 45 more in Ealing could save £1.3 million.

Councillor Yvonne Johnson, cabinet member for finance, performance and customer services, said: “The scale of the cuts being forced on us mean that some services will need to stop or change.

“Residents are going to notice a difference, there’s no getting away from it.”

After this week’s decisions, the council anticipates it will still have to find the equivalent in savings of more than the entire annual running costs for refuse and recycling, street cleaning, parks, heritage and libraries services put together.

Last year 129 council employees were put at risk of redundancy.

The council has already closed day centres, reduced grants to the voluntary sector, and reorganised to operate with fewer staff and less money.

Subsidies have been cut in areas ranging from skip permits to Ealing’s Summer Festival.

“We’ve already agreed 152.8 million of heartbreaking cuts, but that is simply not enough to balance the books,” said Coun Bell.

“We’re still staring into a £37 million black hole.”

Coun Johnson emphasised the council would attempt to draw more businesses to the borough to create new jobs, and would increase income from business rates.

According to a video released by the council, the council tax would need to be doubled if it alone were to bridge the gap.

But the council has pledged to freeze council tax rates for the next two years to ease the burden of financial hardship on residents.

A spokesman said funding for schools and housing benefits had been ringfenced and the council would continue to spend on transport, education, housing and healthcare.

Individuals are encouraged to make use of the council’s online services, boost Ealing's economy by shopping locally and ease landfill charges by recycling.

The cabinet meets on Tuesday November 24 in the town hall on New Broadway at 7pm.