Surrey County Council approves budget cuts of £82m

Surrey County Council has agreed to make savings of £82m with the approval of its budget plans for 2019-20.

Thirty-one children's centres will close and some rubbish tips will only take recycling from April as it seeks to balance its books.

Fifty-four councillors voted for the budget and a 2.99% council tax rise, with 17 against and three abstaining.

Council leader Tim Oliver said it was hoped the council would not need to use its reserves in the coming year.

The council has spent £80m of reserves since 2014, he said.

"This year hopefully for the first time we will have a balanced budget, so we won't be using our reserves," he said.

Mr Oliver, who took over from David Hodge in December 2018, said: "In truth we have not done enough in the past to ensure our finances are sustainable and this is now a major piece of work.

"But I am determined we will put this councils' finances on a solid footing as quickly as possible."

Councillor Will Forster, the Liberal Democrat mayor of Woking, said the council tax rise would be "unaffordable for many" and was "likely to only be a sticking plaster for the very real problems facing Surrey".

BBC Surrey's political reporter Jack Fiehn said the council said it faced difficulties in "putting together a sustainable budget, partly due to the reduction in central government grant".

He said borough, district and parish councils were also likely to increase tax precepts in the coming months.

"The situation where Surrey residents are paying some of the most expensive council tax bills in the country is likely to continue, yet at the same time, as we are hearing, many services are being cut back."

He added: "There are yet more changes to come over the next few months."