Surrey County Council unable to fund services, leader says

A county council leader says his authority does not have the funding to step in and support services cut by district and borough councils.

Tim Oliver, Conservative leader of Surrey County Council (SCC) said those discretionary services being cut were "important services".

"We do not have the funding to step in and support those organisations that have seen their grants cut."

He says councils are doing everything possible to make funds go further.

Mr Oliver, who is also chairman of the County Council Network (CCN), says he is concerned about the impact funding cuts will have on local services.

He told BBC Radio Surrey funding had been affected by "wage inflation, general inflation and increased costs in all of the services that we deliver".

"We've seen a huge increase in demand in adult social care and children's services.

"It is a really tough time."

A survey by CCN found one in 10 councils in England were facing effective bankruptcy.

In Surrey, Woking is effectively bankrupt with a debt of about £1.8bn and rising. Meanwhile, Guildford is £300m in debt and Surrey Heath announced it was effectively approaching bankruptcy.

Mr Oliver said: "We're starting to see many of the local councils in Surrey cutting back to just delivering their statutory services.

"We deliver some of the most important services to local residents, the most vulnerable residents, so our plea to government is to recognise that," he said.

"There is no doubt that all councils are doing everything they can to make that public pound go as far as it can."

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].