Surrey council to hold referendum on 15% tax hike

Surrey County Council is to hold a referendum on plans to raise its council tax by 15 per cent to deal with the mounting cost of social care and children's services, says The Guardian.

The Conservative-controlled group said it had lost more than £170m in funding from central government in the last six years.

Referendums are required if local authorities, fire services and police and crime commissioners wish to increase council tax by more than the cap set by the government.

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At the moment, that cap is set at two per cent, plus a "social care precept", which Communities Secretary Sajid Javid increased to three per cent this year, allowing councils to increase their tax by five per cent before needing the consent of local residents.

Critics have cast doubt on the motives of the Surrey vote, "given there is such a slim chance residents will vote for the increase", says The Guardian.The only other referendum on council tax rises, called in 2015 by the Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner to approve a 15.8 per cent increase, saw 69 per cent of residents voting against.

Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb suggested Surrey council would use the loss of a referendum to clear the way for cuts to frontline services.

He said: "This referendum is just a pure smokescreen for cuts to social care. The Tories need to stop passing the buck and get a grip of the crisis."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said councils should not be expected to use their budgets to deal with the growing scale of the social care crisis.

He told Sky News: "It's not right that we should thrust the social care crisis on local authorities, all of whom have different levels of income. It's a central government responsibility and central government should face up to its responsibility."