A senior county councillor says it is time local government organisations stood together to fight national cuts.

It comes as the authority prepares to find another £32 million in savings before 2020, with the possibility of even more in future.

Anne Burns, a member of Cumbria County Council's Cabinet, said services will soon start to suffer if budgets keep being slashed.

"For the life of me I don't understand why the majority of councils aren't jumping up and down, getting together and objecting to what's going on. It's time for our elected politicians to get their heads around it and do something to stop it," she said.

It came as the cabinet launched a public consultation over plans to increase its share of council tax by almost four per cent for the next three years.

This is alongside making £16m of savings in 2017/18, with an estimated £32m still to find before 2020. It will take the council's total budget cuts between 2011 and 2020 to £246m.

The £16m cuts will not effect frontline services, with the vast majority being in-house efficiency savings. However it is not yet known where the further £32m will come from.

Mrs Burns said: "More than £200m from a budget like Cumbria's is huge. At the end of this there are people's jobs going down the road. Yes there are people taking early retirement but that's then not a job for someone else in Cumbria to take on.

"We try to deliver excellent services but the ability to do that is diminishing rapidly and it's sad. I think local government has bourne the brunt of the cuts."

Meanwhile council leader Stewart Young accused the Government of shying away from tough decisions, such as those needed to merge county and district councils into single authorities.

"Central government are dodging difficult decisions. Unitary authorities would save hundreds of millions of pounds but they won't do it.

"I hear our MPs in the press saying why haven't we got them, Conservative MPs. I say back to them why haven't we? Why don't you talk to your collegaues in government," he said.

And he said it is not just Cumbria that is suffering. "The Local Government Association has a list of about 80 councils they view to be at risk. We are not one of them but when you see big authorities like Lancashire County Council struggling... they have got two years worth of reserves left then are pretty much bankrupt," said Mr Young.

"I was speaking to their leader recently and they don't know what to do. They could even be in a position where they can't deliver statutory services. What do the Government think is going to happen? Are they going to bring Circle or Capita in? What is their plan? "

Fellow cabinet member, Liberal Democrat Ian Stewart, echoed some of his Labour colleagues' concerns.

"We've actually trimmed away the fat, trimmed the flesh, trimmed the bones - now we are taking the bones away," he said.

"What we are going to be left with is a completely different beast than we started with. From my perspective it's really sad because it means how we are able to provide services for the people of Cumbria has been diminished, mostly by Government cuts."

The proposed council tax rise is made up of a 1.99 per cent general rise, plus two per cent earmarked solely for adult social care - a move recommended by the Government to help cover costs.

But Mr Young said even with the rise, social care budgets will still be stretched. "I have to say it will not resolve all of the issues in adult social care. It will raise about £4m, which is a relatively small amount in terms of its budget, but it will be welcome," he said.