JOBS are under threat and services could be cut as Rossendale Council has to find savings of £800,000.

An all-party delegation from the council - supported by the borough's two MPs Greg Pope and Janet Anderson - is calling for a meeting with the Minister for Local Government to ask for fair treatment on the council's rate support grant and capping limits.

New figures compiled by the council show that, assuming equal population, Rossendale is £2m worse off than Blackburn and nearly £1m worse off than the average for other councils in East Lancashire.

At a meeting of the council, Labour and Conservative groups agreed to the delegation.

Conservative leader Coun John Holt stressed the formula used to assess how much money Rossendale received had to be examined. In a statement, council leader Coun John McManus said the council's standard spending assessment was calculated with a loading towards density of population.

This means Rossendale - although it shares the same problems as Blackburn, Hyndburn, Burnley and Pendle - receives much less Government support.

Coun McManus said: "The council has been put in a situation which it is not able to sustain. Services have only been maintained by using council balances because, for seven years, Rossendale has faced a standstill budget.

"This cannot continue. Both political parties agree that Rossendale needs about £7.5m a year to preserve services at the present restricted level. The Government's standard spending assessment is nearly £2m below this."

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