Surrey County Council agrees to put referendum on 15 per cent tax increase and £93 million in 'unspecified' cuts to vote next week

The referendum and the cuts will be voted on at a full council meeting next week (February 7), when the council sets its budget for the coming financial year.

But opposition parties have criticised the decision as “ludicrous” and claim they are being “kept in the dark” about where the cuts will fall.

Council leader David Hodge (pictured above), in a report placed before today’s cabinet meeting, cited “an unprecedented six-year period of funding cuts by the government” and “an unrelenting increase in the numbers of people requiring services across adults and children’s services” as reasons for increasing council tax.

The proposed 14.99 per cent increase would see the average Surrey resident – in a band D property – paying £1,458.45 annually, according to his report.

Mr Hodge wrote: “To fund the required budget for the next three years from locally-generated sources the council would be forced to increase council tax in total by 15 per cent in 2017/18.”

This would enable the council to “reset its funding base and achieve a sustainable position for the next decade, followed by modest increases in future years in line with government guidance”, Mr Hodge stated.

He added: “The council is planning to make significant additional savings of £93m in 2017/18. This will still leave a funding shortfall of £30m in 2017/18, rising to £73m by 2019/20.”

Councillor Hazel Watson (pictured above), Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council described the possible council tax increase as “unreasonable and unaffordable”, and asked for clarity on £93million worth of cuts.

She added: "It is time for the Tories at County Hall to end their secrecy and to spill the beans about the £93 million of cuts which are coming down the pipeline.

“Councillors who have to vote on the County Council budget next week and Surrey residents who pay council tax and are served by the County Council should not be kept in the dark and have a right to know now about the cuts which are on the way.”

Cllr Jonathan Essex (pictured above) , Green Party County Councillor for Redhill East, said today: “It would be ludicrous to expect councillors from all political persuasions to vote on next week's budget where the details are kept under lock and key until the very last possible moment.

“That is no way to run a council and I expect residents will make their voices heard loud and clear when they deliver their verdict on this administration on May 4.

“Instead of putting an excessive rise to the vote first, and then making public what the impact would be afterwards, the council should be up front about the true impacts, and with these facts in the open make this case to the government up-front, not behind closed doors.”

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