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Eric Pickles announces the details of council cuts but includes extra help for the worst-hit.

Our councils have discovered then just how much they'll have to cut in the next two years.

Many are now facing tough choices and difficult discussions. Hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts will have to be found in the next two years.

But although it won't be much compensation, the cuts could have been even worse for some of our councils.

The Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced that no council would face a reduction of more than 8.9% in their spending power.

To do that he's had to give transitional grants to some of our local authorities that would have faced even higher cuts.

South Tyneside, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Copeland and Barrow all face the maximum 8.9% reduction. (Sunderland also comes close to hitting the maximum with a reduction of 8.88%).

But they would have faced bigger cuts without Mr Pickles' transitional grant.

South Tyneside, for example, would have seen a 10.5% cut in spending power had it not been given a £3m grant to bring the cut down to 8.9%. Hartlepool would have also have faced a double digit cut without the transitional help.

For some though it's only a marginal improvement.

Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon is angry at cuts to his council's budget.

I can't see Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon being overjoyed that transitional relief of £300,000 has reduced cuts in his town from 9.12% to 8.9%.

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This help then may prove to be little comfort for authorities that will still have to find significant savings.

And Labour will accuse Eric Pickles of hitting the North East and Cumbria harder than other parts of the country.

shows northern councils losing more than the south. And some of the figures bear that out too.

Using the Secretary of State's measure of spending power (which takes into account the cut in grant plus the extra money councils are getting to provide social care), 15 of the councils in the North East and Cumbria face cuts of above the national average of 4.4%. That rises more if you include the districts in North Yorkshire.

Many of them, like Middlesbrough, South Tyneside and Hartlepool, are in the poorest areas.

The unitary councils in Durham and Northumberland have also been handed above-average cuts (6.73% and 5.64% respectively).

But the two traditional shire councils have escaped relatively lightly. North Yorkshire's spending power has gone down by 2.05%, Cumbria's by 1.91%.

District councils in those areas have not done so well though. All face above-average reductions.

Some eyebrows will be raised about the settlement in Tyne and Wear though. All of the councils in the old metropolitan area face cuts to spending power of at least 7.89%, except one.

That exception is North Tyneside - the only one run by the Conservatives.

Co-incidence perhaps, but Labour will be quick to make political capital out of it.

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South Tyneside's Labour leader Iain Malcolm says he's "devastated", but the former Lib Dem leader of Newcastle Lord Shipley says the settlement is better than expected.

And Northumberland Conservative councillor Wayne Daley says saving 5p in every pound in Northumberland is far from catastrophic.

Councils though will have to considering doing things differently to protect the front-line as much as possible.

Let me know what you think of the settlement and what you think councils should do.

Here's a full league table of the cuts to "spending power" in our councils and fire and rescue authorities:

8.9% - Barrow, Copeland, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, South Tyneside.
8.88% - Sunderland.
8.39% - Redcar and Cleveland.
7.89% - Gateshead.
7.84% - Newcastle.
7.56% - Allerdale.
7.34% - Stockton.
6.69% - Durham.
6.57% - Scarborough.
6.42% - Eden.
6.32% - Hambleton.
6.08% - Ryedale.
5.83% - Richmondshire.
5.64% - Northumberland.
5.58% - Cleveland Fire.
5.52% - Harrogate.
5.21% - South Lakeland.
4.69% - Tyne and Wear Fire.
4.38% - North Tyneside.
3.55% - Darlington.
3.08% - Durham Fire.
3.31% - York.
2.05% - North Yorkshire.
1.91% - Cumbria.
0.94% - North Yorkshire Fire.

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