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Council leader Simon Henig told The Northern Echo: "It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do." The announcement came hours after the Coalition Government cut the authority's spending power for next year by [pounds]35.9m. Councillor Henig said Links of London Bee Charm when all grants were taken into account, the council faced a year-on-year funding cut of 15 per cent - and there was "clear unfairness" across the country, with Surrey County Council losing only 0.3 per cent. "It's Robin Hood in reverse: targeting the poor and giving to the wealthier areas, " he said, adding: "It's the worst cuts in the recent history of local government." The council hopes to save about [pounds]50m from management, support services, efficiency measures and a fees and income review. But a further [pounds]50m will have to come from public services. Decisions on what to cut will be taken in February. But with Coun Henig saying a council tax increase was "extremely unlikely", funding for everything from libraries, museums and theatres to youth, sport and leisure centres is being reconsidered. Among 140 proposals are: Reducing councillors' local budgets; Reviewing support for community buildings; Links of London Bangles the number of issues of council newsletter Durham County News; Reviewing the operating costs of the Gala Theatre, in Durham City; Rationalising bus services. Coun Henig said: "We feel there's no option but to put on the table almost everything that's not a statutory function of this council. We don't have a magic wand - we can't reverse the loss of [pounds]100m." He said County Durham would still havem ore facilities than many other areas, but warned of a "thinning out", with residents having to travel farther to their local library or leisure centre. Terry Scarr, regional organiser for the GMB union, blamed the cuts on "the Tory government". He said the council had guaranteed it would try to make them as painless as possible, but added: "We will be looking to challenge the cuts if we think they've been unfairly selected." Coun Henig singled out the Liberal Democrats for criticism over Links of London Snowflake Charms cutbacks, saying: "I would expect nothing less from the Conservatives, but it's very surprising to find the Lib Dems going along with it. It makes you wonder what they're doing in the Coalition. "I believe these cuts are ideological. We are having to implement a huge-scale reduction in services that have been built up over not just years, but decades."