TOWN hall chiefs are reeling from a “massive blow" from central government after its funding for next year was cut by £15 million.

Council leader Doug Taylor described yesterday's announcement as the “worst funding settlement ever” for Enfield, as authorities across England faced up to the swingeing government cuts.

Enfield's central funding will be slashed by eight per cent next year, equating to a £15m cut, and in the next four years it will have to cope with 27 per cent cuts imposed by the Coalition Government.

Cllr Taylor, who took charge of the council in May, said: “Whatever the Government says, this is a massive blow and is the worst funding settlement ever for Enfield.”

He restated his party's commitment to freeze council tax in 2011/12 and promised to stand by the pledge for a pensioner's discount.

However, he warned the council is facing “tough choices” as it scrambled to balance the books in future years and will be forced to examine all its services to save money.

The announcement, by communities and local government minister Eric Pickles, means a 9.9 per cent cut across the country in 2011/12, followed by a 7.3 per cent fall the year after.

Enfield's cut compares starkly with Harrow (1.96 per cent), Havering (1.71 per cent) and Richmond-upon-Thames (0.61 per cent), but is slightly less of a cut than faced by Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney councils which must slash 8.9 per cent from their budgets next year.

Mr Pickles announced the cuts as part of a major reform package, in the Localism Bill, which will give councils more power to decide where to spend their money.

He said on Monday: “Today we unveiled radical new reforms that will mark an end to the hoarding of power within central government and hand control back to individuals, communities and councils.

“For the first time, we will establish powerful new rights for communities, revolutionise the planning system, and give local neighbourhoods control over housing decisions.”

But London Councils, a lobby representing the capital's local authorities, slammed the front-loading of the cuts and said services would inevitably suffer as a result.

Mayor Jules Pipe, chairman of London Councils, said: "London's councils are already planning for improved efficiency, shared services and new approaches to service delivery.

“The scale of these reductions is so large that no combination of these is sufficient to protect the services that Londoners expect to be funded."