Council cuts: Who will lose out most?

Councils in England are facing cuts of up to 9.9% in their central government funding from next year.

Ministers have announced that the "formula grant" - calculated using mathematical formulae based on, among other things, the local council tax base and how many people rely on local services - will be reduced by 9.9% in 2011/2012 and by 7.3% in 2012/2013.

Explore the map below for where the cuts are being made

The reduction in Whitehall cash is part of a policy to cut central funding to local authorities by 28% over four years.

However, taking into account council tax, other ring-fenced government grants and extra money for the NHS, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles says councils will actually see their "spending power" reduced by an average 4.4%.

Any authority facing cuts of more than 8.9% will receive a "transition grant" - effectively capping the cut at 8.9%.

The map above shows how this reduction in spending power will affect local district and unitary authorities for the two years from 2011.

It does not include the shire counties - or county councils - in two-tier authority areas, which also face cuts in government money.