Dundee’s finance chief has admitted it’s “not looking good” for the city council as it prepares for another winter of budget-setting.

The local authority will reveal full plans for next year’s spending in February, but work will start before then to identify where savings can be made.

It’s predicted that at least £22 million will have to be cut from the council’s budget in the next two years.

But the true scale of how that’ll impact on the city has yet to be revealed.

However, Willie Sawers — the council’s finance spokesman — told the Tele that more cuts were on the cards, saying they could top the £7m that was slashed from services in the last budget process.

He added: “Given the economic stance coming from Westminster, things aren’t looking good.

“We’re looking across the council about how we can deliver services in a cost effective manner. It will result in both efficiencies to the public and cost saving to the

Government, but it is far too early to speculate how we might arrive at the savings.”

Mr Sawers stopped short of guaranteeing services that deal directly with the public would not be affected by the next round of cuts.

But he said: “As far as is practicable, we will be looking to have a minimal effect on front-line services.”

Lib Dem councillor Fraser Macpherson has warned Dundonians to brace themselves for another difficult year of budget cuts.

He said: “I can say with some certainty that we are in for another difficult year.

“We know the way public expenditure is going — it’s a very challenging time.

“There is no doubt that the council will be forced to make yet more savings for the umpteenth year in a row.”

Mr Macpherson added that Government funding has a huge role in how much the council has to spend.

He said: “We’re hugely dependent on the financial support given to us by John Swinney, the finance minister.

“It makes up a far greater percentage of expenditure than council tax brings in.

“Until we know that, it is impossible to predict where we are going.

“The annual local authority expenditure is well in excess of £300 million, but £1m either way for individual departments can make a huge difference.”

Mr Sawers confirmed that a budget report was being put together, and is due to be presented to councillors shortly.

It is believed the report could be ready before the end of October, ahead of the budget-setting process in February.