The leader of Suffolk County Council has hit back at district and borough council leaders' claims that cuts to a service to prevent homelessness will have a 'catastrophic effect' on the most vulnerable.

Matthew Hicks said due to funding cuts, the county council was having to prioritise services the authority had a statutory duty to provide, which did not include housing related support (HRS).

Earlier this week, the EADT revealed how the county council was planning to axe the temporary housing scheme for people in the care of Suffolk's social and children's services as it sought to make £65 million worth of savings.

READ MORE: Suffolk County Council plans to cut housing related support

However, the leaders and acting leaders of the county's district and borough councils have signed a letter to the council expressing dismay at the cut and warning the move could lead to an increase in rough sleeping.

But in reply, Mr Hicks said the county council had to find £74 million over the next two years to put towards caring for adults and families who need support, services the council had a statutory duty to provide.

To achieve this, the council was proposing £11 million of staff savings, extensive service transformations and increasing council tax to the maximum allowed for Suffolk residents.

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Mr Hicks, speaking as the authority prepared for its full council meeting today, warned the situation was 'not sustainable' and that if the council was forced to keep funding services from reserves at the current level, this funding would run out by 2026/27.

"What then for the statutory services people rely upon, what then for the care and support people need?" he said.

He added: "The demand for our key services is increasing at such a rate that our funding isn’t keeping pace.

"Over the last year alone, what we need to spend on children’s services has increased 
by 28% and on adult care by 14%.

"The scale of these increases represents an enormous challenge to this authority (and other county councils nationally) and has put considerable pressure on the delivery of the county council’s statutory services."

READ MORE: Suffolk news