THE leader of Worcestershire County Council has rejected criticism future spending reductions will cause "further misery" - saying he remains firmly optimistic.

Councillor Adrian Hardman has been forced to defend an emerging blueprint at County Hall signalling how another £100 million may need cutting by 2019.

As the Advertiser revealed last week, due to serious demographic pressures and funding reductions from central Government the current plan to save around £25 million annually is likely to carry on for another four years.

The issue was debated in a cabinet meeting on Friday where the opposition Labour group urged him to lobby ministers over "tackling tax dodgers" who damage Britain's finances.

Councillor Peter McDonald, Labour group leader, also said he felt the proposals known as 'Future Fit' will "cause misery".

Councillor Hardman said: "One thing that is absolutely clear is that Worcestershire is achieving at the moment.

"Over the five-year period this county has been the third fastest growing area in the country and that's been boosted by ONS (Office for National Statistics) data which shows the county is the fastest growing for its productivity, which is a great achievement."

He said the county as a whole is "really starting to achieve fantastic results", citing a record nine out of 10 schools rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted.

He also said the aim of "becoming self-sufficient" by keeping all its business rates by 2020 matches that of Chancellor George Osborne, telling the cabinet it will stop councils from "relying on hand-outs".

"It's worth reminding people that despite the austerity we are still spending over £1 million a day on services - we are a county that achieves," he added.

Councillor McDonald told him: "It doesn't matter how much you powder up 'Future Fit', what it means to 2020 is further and further cutbacks, and that means further misery.

"We need to tackle tax dodgers, I wish you'd take that up with the Government."

The Tory leader said he did not accept the criticism, telling him "services will be delivered in a different way".

Future Fit aims to build on a new operating model launched at County Hall last year, aimed at commissioning out 85 per cent of services by 2018, with up to 1,500 in-house jobs expected to go.

During the debate Councillor Marc Bayliss, the cabinet member overseeing it, said if people believed there is only one solution, such as the private sector, they are "very much mistaken".

He added: "This administration continues to look at all solutions to maximise value for money from what we do have, as the leader says we still spend well over £1 million a day.

"This is still a very large organisation, let's not forget that."