Manchester has been hammered yet again in the latest round of government spending cuts. Figures released today show the city’s ‘spending power’ - the total amount it has at its disposal through central grants and council tax - will fall by £28.1m.

In 2014/15 it was £552.4m, but for 2015/16 it will be £524.3m. It represents a cut of 5.1 pc - compared to an average cut for all English councils of 1.8 pc.

Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese, said: “Manchester has again been hit disproportionately hard by government spending cuts.

“This is money that is being taken from some of the country’s most deprived families and neighbourhoods and being diverted to more affluent areas where the need is much less.

“We cannot pretend this is going to be easy but we will continue to do all we can to protect services that help support the city's most vulnerable people as well as the services that help build a more prosperous Manchester.”

Elsewhere in Greater Manchester, other Labour-controlled areas have taken another battering.

Oldham will lose £10.4m (4.5 pc) Rochdale £9.6m (4.4 pc) Salford £10.1m (3.9 pc) Tameside £7.9m (3.8 pc) Bolton £9.5m (3.7 pc) Wigan £7.1m (2.5 pc) and Bury £3.7m (2.3pc)

Only Lib Dem-run Stockport - down £2.7m, or 1.1 pc - and Tory Trafford - down £1.2m, or 0.7 pc - fare better than the national average.

Once again, the list of worst-hit areas is dominated by Labour-controlled parts of the Midlands and the north. At the other end of the scale, a number of councils in the southern shires will actually see their spending power INCREASE.

Tewkesbury will see the biggest increase, of 3.2 pc, while Surrey will get an extra £27m, or 3.1 pc.

Other towns and counties getting an increase include East Devon (up 2.7 pc), Buckinghamshire (up 2.3 pc), Cambridge (up 2.3 pc), Dorset (up 1.9 pc) and Cheshire East (up 1.4 pc).

The Local Government Association, which represents councils, says the amount authorities receive from the government is being cut by 8.8 pc - bringing the total reduction in support since the coalition came to power in 2010 to 40 pc.

But ministers say the amount they can spend - taking into account other resources, such as business rates - will fall on average by 1.8 pc.

Announcing the settlement in the House of Commons, local government minister Kris Hopkins said it will leave councils with ‘considerable total spending power’.

He described the deal as ‘fair for all parts of the country, whether north or south, urban or rural’ - something Greater Manchester politicians strongly disagree with.

Council bosses across the region have been planning their budgets for next year on expected levels of government funding. The settlement set those targets in stone, with required cuts as severe as feared.

Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities are facing cuts of more than a quarter of a BILLION pounds next year. The expected total savings figure is likely to hit £285m - on top of the £1.2bn of cuts since the government’s austerity measures were introduced in 2010.

Manchester council will have to slash £60m and cull 600 jobs. Another £30m will have to be cut the following year.

Elsewhere, across the region, Rochdale will have to claw back £37m next year, Oldham £35m, Salford £30m and Bolton £25m, Stockport £18m and Trafford £24m.

Oldham council leader Jim McMahon has warned the government has to realise ‘things just can’t continue on this trajectory’ - and that ‘the very fabric of public services will be tested to destruction’ if ministers don’t put in place a fairer funding deal.

Fury in the north over 'modest' cuts

Greater Manchester council chiefs have been campaigning throughout this parliament for town hall funding to be reviewed. Under this government, Manchester - one of the most deprived authorities in the country - has lost 26 times more ‘spending power’ per person than Hertfordshire, the wealthiest.

But ministers have repeatedly insisted their model is fair, stressing poor areas still get far more money than rich ones.

Ministers warned councils of further waves of town hall cuts earlier this year, and said cash would continue to be distributed in the same way.

Council chiefs, including Sir Richard Leese, have warned the region’s devolution deal isn’t a silver bullet that will solve harsh budget cuts.

Sir Richard said last month: “I have serious concerns as there’s going to be no relief for the severe funding pressures that council like Manchester - serving the most deprived communities - are under and that’s clearly disappointing to say the least.”

Blackley and Broughton MP Graham Stringer said the funding settlement wasn’t a surprise and that the government is continuing its northern assault, all the while protecting Tory shires.

Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell said the way cash is doled out was ‘profoundly unfair’ for Manchester.

Slamming Mr Hopkins after the Commons announcement, shadow local government secretary Hilary Benn said councils are angry at the government for suggesting cuts are ‘modest’.

Labour have promised Manchester a fairer funding deal if the party wins the next election.

Mr Benn blasted the coalition’s ‘rotten’ policy of hitting deprived urban town halls hardest in the cuts - and has promised a fairer deal for northern cities.