Surrey County Council abandons 15% tax rise to offset social care costs
A Tory-led authority has abandoned plans for a 15% hike in council tax to address the crisis in social care funding and will instead “take a risk” that ministers will find a solution.
Surrey County Council’s leader David Hodge said he would now seek a 4.99% rise but warned that unless there was progress on funding the situation would become “untenable and intolerable”.
A 15% rise would have required the support of Surrey residents in a referendum, but the 4.99% increase falls just below the Government’s threshold for a public vote.
The originally planned 15% increase was backed by Surrey’s cabinet and risked becoming an embarrassment to the Tory hierarchy because ministers including Chancellor Philip Hammond and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt have constituencies in the county.
Mr Hodge said he had made his case to the Government and made clear that Surrey was an “extreme example” of the problem facing authorities across England.
Setting out the revised budget proposals at a meeting of the council in Kingston-upon-Thames, Mr Hodge said long-term reforms would make funding local government fairer.
But he added “we have a crisis now, which is why cabinet took the very difficult decision last week to recommend an increase in council tax to fund a growing demand in social care services”.
Since then, Mr Hodge said talks with the Government had given him hope that a solution would be found.
He said: “We have had many conversations now with Government.
“It is clear that Surrey is an extreme example of how increasing social care demands impact on local communities and on the health service.
“The Government has listened and we believe the Government now understands.
“We are therefore willing to take a risk that a solution will soon be found for the issues that all councils face.
“However, if there isn’t any progress in finding a solution to the adult social care crisis, our situation will become untenable and intolerable.”
The proposed 15% rise would have added almost £200 to an average Band D bill, but the 4.99% hike – which includes the 3% rise specifically allowed to fund social care – will increase bills by around £63.
Surrey’s stance led to calls for Mr Hammond to guarantee extra funding for social care in his March Budget.
Simon Edwards, director of the County Councils Network, said: “Following years of funding cuts and rising demand for services, county authorities face extremely difficult choices in balancing their books.
“The situation for all county authorities, such as Surrey, is made worse by the historic underfunding of rural areas and higher demand for care services, forcing residents to pay higher council tax for fewer services compared to urban areas.
“To help county authorities, Government must now deliver new funding for social care in the March Budget. Alongside this, it must bring forward its review of council funding to provide genuinely fair resources for shire counties.”
The Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council had opposed the “unpopular and unaffordable” rise.
Norman Lamb, the party’s health spokesman at Westminster, said: “Surrey County Council, like most others, has been put in an impossible position because of the Government’s refusal to give local authorities a fair deal.
“Although this rise in council tax might relieve some of the strain on care services, it will not provide a long-term solution or guarantee that that elderly and disabled people get the support they need.
“We know that council tax would need to rise by about 14% to deal with the social care crisis, but the scaling-back of the council’s original proposal is proof that this is simply not deliverable.”
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