Tory budget is bad news for Surrey residents

Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council today opposed the ruling Conservative administration's 4.8% rise in Council Tax and condemned a cut in roads and schools maintenance spending. Highlighting her group's alternative proposals, Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Hazel Watson (Dorking Hills), said it would be possible to limit the Council Tax rise to 4.5%, a saving of £1.5m.

"I believe that the Tories' Council Tax increase is too high and will simply add to the difficulties of pensioners and others on fixed incomes who are struggling to pay their bills," said Cllr Watson. "At the same time, the administration is building up money in various different pots such as the Future Income Fund of £15m and the Policy Initiatives Fund of £1.5m. The administration is robbing the pensioners of Surrey to set up a war chest and services are being starved of money."

The Liberal Democrats put forward suggested allocations including £600,000 to the Youth Service to end the recruitment freeze, allowing the recruitment of youth workers and to open youth centres more often. Also, £12m going to schools, for essential schools maintenance and to ensure the ongoing provision of places for school age children.

Roads is another area where the Tories have failed to meet residents' expectations said Cllr Watson. "The administration's proposed capital expenditure on Surrey's roads is an actual cut of 13% (around £4m) over this year's expenditure, and the lowest for five years. This completely fails to tackle the massive £200m backlog of road repairs needed to bring the county's roads up to a reasonable standard. Money that's been earmarked for flooding in the budget is not actually new money either."

The Liberal Democrat group at Surrey County Council has been drawing attention to potential budgetary shortcomings for several months, such as calling for an end to the recruitment freeze in the Youth Service and the millions of pounds of taxpayers' money wasted on consultants and agency staff. Said Cllr Watson: "£8.8m has been spent on consultants since the completion of the Business Delivery Review and £7.9m on agency staff from April to November 2007. If the County Council had a proper workforce plan, it would be recruiting and retaining the right staff to do the work without having to rely so heavily on consultancies and agency staff.

"In short, this Tory budget is bad news for Surrey - the Council Tax increase is too high yet money is piling up in the Council's coffers. Little is on offer for service improvement such as the Youth Service or to improve the county's deteriorating school buildings or roads."