Caroline Flint: Don't try to pick a fight with councils, Mr Pickles, and be fair with your cuts

On average, councils face losing 27 per cent of their funding over the next four years, almost half of which will occur in the first year. All this comes on top of the 1bn in-year cut announced by the Government in June.

Of course, councils of all political colours were preparing for cuts, whoever won the last election. But not cuts like this. Last week,we heard the Lib Dem leader of Sheffield City Council belatedly warning against the potential size of the cuts facing his council and threatening to campaign against the proposals.

Yet it is the Lib Dems and Conservatives nationally who are choosing to cut deeper and faster than Labour planned. It is the Treasury requirements in their Comprehensive Spending Review that mean almost half of the cuts councils have to make over the next four years will in fact fall in the first year.

This "frontloading" threatens many councils in low and middle income neighbour- hoods, some in Yorkshire, with cuts of almost 20 per cent.

There is little doubt that local government cuts of this size, imposed this quickly and frontloaded in the first year will hit many of the important frontline services families and communities in the region rely on.

Roads already damaged last winter and struggling with this year's bad weather could go unrepaired. Potholes could go unfixed, pavements unswept. Street lights will be turned off. Youth clubs will close. Libraries will shut down. As more people than ever need help with social care, fewer will find their local council able to help.

There are also signs that Yorkshire councils in the poorest areas will be hit the hardest. Recent research into the impact of the cuts reveals that all but two of the 20 worst hit councils are in the bottom 20 per cent most deprived councils in England. At the same time, some of the wealthiest most affluent areas in the South could see their grants increase by as much as 37 per cent. It can't be fair that low and middle income neighbourhoods like Barnsley, Doncaster and Hull carry the heaviest burden because of the choices the Government are making.

The Local Government Association believes the situation is unprecedented and has warned as many as 140,000 posts in local government could go in the next year. The costs in redundancy payments alone could reach 2bn. But the Government's capitalisation fund is only one tenth of that – meaning deeper service cuts and more job losses elsewhere. And jobs won't be lost just in local government. There are tens of thousands of people in Yorkshire working in the private sector who depend on contracts from local councils. Plumbers, builders, electricians, IT companies and office suppliers – all of them do work for local authorities.

It's still not clear why the Government is frontloading cuts in this way. One local government minister says it's a necessary measure to reassure the international markets – an incredible explanation.

Others wonder whether the coalition is hitting councils in the first year so that later in the Parliament, closer to a General Election, there is more opportunity for a giveaway.

Then there's the aggressive language directed at local authorities and the provocative press releases full of red herrings and unrealistic demands from Eric Pickles, which looks to some like the Government is deliberately picking a fight. I hope that's not the case, because everyone agrees that given time local government can find new ways to provide services. We all want modern, flexible and innovative councils that give the best value for money. But imposing frontloaded cuts denies those councils the chance to reform in a proper and planned way.

So, what do I want to hear from Eric Pickles today?

Firstly, the Government should be evenly spreading the cuts across four years, not frontloading them. That would give councils the time to plan where savings and reforms can

be made.

Secondly, capitalisation arrangements should be made more flexible so that councils aren't forced to make even

deeper cuts in services and jobs to meet the cost of redundancy payments.

Finally, the Government should introduce damping measures to stop the poorest communities being hit hardest.

Eric Pickles can plough on and impose huge frontloaded cuts that will unnecessarily cost jobs in Yorkshire and elsewhere, undermining the voluntary sector, hitting front line services and creating great private sector uncertainty.

Or he can listen to the people who work in local government, to the voluntary sector, to small business and to local communities.

Caroline Flint is the Labour MP for Don Valley and the Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary.