SOME Oxfordshire County Council services cuts will happen earlier than expected, because the authority is having to push through more cuts in the next financial year.

But while the county is going to be cutting significantly more than was originally planned in 2011-12, overall it may have to chop £48m less than expected by 2015.

In September, council leader Keith Mitchell warned that 1,000 jobs could have to go as £203m of cuts were required by 2015.

County Hall spokesman Paul Smith said the total number of predicted job losses had not changed, but the council’s latest calculations showed that about £58.6m of savings were likely to have to be made from next April.

All councils in the UK are facing the prospect of having to make more cuts next year than previously expected, due to the way government grants have been structured.

Finance managers at the council have also revised their estimate on the total amount of cuts necessary by 2015 down to £155m.

But a clear picture will not emerge until the Local Government Grant Settlement day early next month, when councils will learn how much money they will receive from the Government.

Mr Mitchell said: “Local government as a whole is having to grapple with this issue about 2011-12 being the year that’s going to be affected the most.

“The Government has certainly front-loaded a large chunk of these cuts for everyone; this is not an Oxfordshire-specific issue.

“It needs to be stressed that facilities in communities will close and valued services will be deeply affected.

“We still have big decisions to make on precisely where and how the cuts will impact.

“However, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is going to be tough for everyone.

“We must treat these current figures with caution, as we still need much more information before we know exactly how much we will have to save.”

Liz Brighouse, leader of the council’s opposition Labour group, said the coalition’s decision to “front-load” the cuts was a cynical ploy to give the Government a better chance of being re-elected in 2015.

She added: “It’s very cynical but it won’t work, because people will not forget the damage that these disastrous cuts have caused.

“The damage will still be felt in five years’ time.

“Nothing is sacred, libraries, youth services and services for children and the elderly could all go.”

Accountants at County Hall have been poring over their budget estimates since Chancellor George Osborne’s spending review last month.

Mr Mitchell added: “We have been preparing for a considerable time to cope with the cuts and we’re on course to make approximately £35m of our overall cuts during this financial year, 2010-11.

“The freeze on salaries and our work in driving down the costs of contracts with external suppliers, across a huge range of services, has been a significant contribution to that.

“We have also thinned out our management structures, particularly at the most senior level, and that will continue.”

Peter Fryer, the council’s branch secretary for the local government union Unison, said: “We’re being fully consulted and are having meetings with all the affected staff on a regular basis.

“So far the cuts have been in senior management but now they will cascade lower and we could be faced with lots of redundancies.”