Tory council had ‘extraordinary level of access to ministers over funding’
Ministers and their advisers gave an “extraordinary level of access” to a Conservative council to resolve funding concerns, MPs have heard.
Tory MP Jonathan Lord (Woking) suggested that Communities Secretary Sajid Javid could resort to cutting funding for other local authorities to provide £31 million needed by Surrey County Council, according to correspondence with the authority’s leader David Hodge.
Shadow minister Barbara Keeley quoted the email, released under Freedom of Information laws, as she highlighted the “substantial stream of letters, emails and texts” linked to what the Opposition has dubbed a “sweetheart deal”.
Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly denied the Government struck a special deal with the Tory council in order to scrap an embarrassing 15% tax hike.
Speaking during the Budget debate, Labour frontbencher Ms Keeley said there had been a “long drawn out and clearly highly successful lobby” of ministers to secure more funding for Surrey council.
She told the Commons: “Last night, Surrey County Council released many documents and texts revealing an extraordinary level of access which that one council enjoyed with ministers and their advisers.”
Ms Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) said her own council was allocated 30 minutes with a junior minister after requesting to meet Mr Javid to discuss its “difficult” funding situation and loss of social care cash.
She went on: “However, the leader of Surrey County Council was given meetings with (Mr Javid) on October 12, October 19 and January 9.
“There were a number of further meetings with the Communities Secretary to discuss Surrey County Council’s funding situation involving the Chancellor (Philip Hammond), Health Secretary (Jeremy Hunt), and other Surrey MPs.
“There was also a substantial stream of letters, emails and texts, and some of these may make surprising reading.”
MPs then heard comments from Mr Lord’s email to Mr Hodge, which was sent in January.
The original version released on the Surrey County Council website shows that Mr Lord wrote: “Sajid led me to understand before Christmas that he would be trying very hard indeed to find £30 or £40 million to help Surrey out with the worst of its (Government-dictated) financial dilemma.
“I am extremely unimpressed that he has not come up with the goods.”
Mr Lord also said: “If all his local government settlement money is really allocated… if the Treasury really is refusing to help out… and if he can’t find a pot of money for the ‘missing’ learning disability grant…then Saj still has the option of adjusting all other council settlements down very slightly in order to accommodate the £31 million needed for Surrey – and I think he should be encouraged to do this.
“He needs to mitigate this dreadful overall settlement for Surrey – a real (and accepted) ‘outlier’ in the figures.”
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