EXTRA savings of more than £20m could be needed at County Hall, finance chiefs have admitted.

In the wake of the Government’s spending review, which included plans to cut an extra 10 per cent from local government finance, cabinet member Arash Fatemian has admitted Oxfordshire County Council doesn’t yet know the true scale of savings needed.

The council is hoping to increase council tax by 2.5 per cent next year, and 3.75 per cent in 2015 and 2016. But extra savings totalling £19.2m between now and 2017 will be needed if the Government caps the rise to two per cent again next year. On top of that the authority will receive an estimated £1.9m less than it had planned for from central Government when the figures were announced in December.

Mr Fatemian said: “It’s right to say that the spending review points to extra savings, but we’re still trying to understand the full effects.

“We are still waiting for the dust to settle, but it is looking like it could be in the region of £20m.”

Mr Fatemian said the figure did not include extra savings which will need to be found if the Government reduces the council’s revenue support grant.

The council has already saved £92m between 2011 and 2013, and has already approved savings of £74m between now and 2017.