Nearly one in five county council leaders are ‘not confident' they can deliver a balanced budget next year without extra funding, a new survey has revealed.

The survey, conducted by the County Councils' Network, found 17% were ‘not confident' about balancing their budget in 2019/20.

Looking beyond 2020/21, only one in three councils said they were confident they will be able to deliver a balanced budget that year without an extra cash injection.

New analysis by CCN today also revealed that county authorities in England are facing funding pressures of £3.2bn over the next two years alone, £1.8bn of which are due to costs ‘out of their control'.

CCN chairman, Cllr Paul Carter, said: ‘We will work hard to deliver the savings required this year, but the scope for making deliverable savings has dramatically reduced and decisions for next year will be truly unpalatable if we are to fulfil our statutory duties.

'Without additional resource, the worst is yet to come.'