Councillors voted to push through proposals to raise council tax by five per cent as politicians argued over adult social care, children’s services and housing.

Kingston Council met last night at the Guildhall to debate its annual budget including the 4.99 per cent hike - the maximum allowed without having to hold a public referendum.

The administration pointed to increasing pressure on adult social care services, though opposing Liberal Democrats unsuccessfully tried to push through a series of amendments.

These included reducing cuts to children’s services, an improved dog warden service, and scrapping £900,000 in funding for smart-technology ‘big belly bins’.

Lid Dem leader Liz Green claimed the budget lacked “ambition and leadership”, while council leader Kevin Davis slammed the amendment as an attempt to “hijack the budget with silly proposals”.

Cllr Green said: “When I first read through this budget document the immediate thing that jumped out was that the council tax increase is the maximum that is allowed.

“It wasn’t a budget in my opinion to protect our vulnerable residents.

"I don’t think it does anything to help with our housing crisis, to protect our children’s services and it’s no more than a sticky plaster for adult social care.”

The five percent rise includes a three per cent “social care precept”, introduced by the Government to help local authorities cope with the nation’s growing crisis in providing adequate social care.

The move was attacked by critics, including Kingston Council’s leader Kevin Davis, for being “too little too late” given the pressures faced by local authorities.

Conservative-controlled neighbouring Surrey County Council sensationally proposed a 15 per cent hike, but scrapped the plans after a considerable public backlash. 

Cllr David Glasspool, cabinet member for the treasury, said: “Kingston Council has made over £60m savings in the past few years – 40 per cent of the total budget but the costs continue to increase significantly.

“The old way of budget setting can no longer work. Huge trust, measure and change needs to be implemented with results focus on action that delivers results in a sustainable way over the long term.”

Cllr Davis said: “We are dealing with serious growth in demand together with cuts to funding, and this is why we rejected the Lib Dems attempt to hijack the budget with silly proposals.”

Councillors voted to reject the Lib Dems’ amendment by 25 votes to 18 and approved the new budget by 24 to 18 votes.