CONFIRMATION by Waverley Council that it will limit its council tax increase to 2.4 per cent this year will not save the borough's householders from an overall rise of more than double the rate of inflation. Rises of five per cent imposed by Surrey County Council and 5.8 per cent from Surrey Police Authority have sent the total bill - which also includes the demands of town and parish councils - soaring by 4.9 per cent. The average, Band D, taxpayer in Waverley will have to find an extra £51 a year. Their total bill, at £1,309.34, will top £25 a week, but will nevertheless be the lowest in Surrey, thanks to Waverley Council's comparatively low increase, as the borough council leader Gillian Ferguson pointed out in her budget speech to the full council on Tuesday. Of the 2.4 per cent rise put forward by the Liberal Democrat administration, Ms Ferguson said: "To put this in perspective, this is an increase of just £3.33 over last year - that's 6p a week. "Waverley's council tax will be £142.11 a year for an average Band D council tax payer - Waverley's share of the total tax bill is less than 11 per cent, with most of the rest going to Surrey County Council and the police authority, who are increasing their tax by 5 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively." Among schemes singled out in the capital programme for 2006/07, Ms Ferguson said Waverley will start a £1.8 million investment in refurbishing Farnham Leisure Centre, will spend £358,000 on new playground equipment in 2006-07 and a similar sum the following year, and will provide £217,000 for Farnham Maltings in line with earlier commitments. Outlining the council's financial strategy, the leader said that since its first day in office, the administration had been improving Waverley's cost effectiveness, saving more than £300,000 a year on the staffing budget, more than £400,000 a year on re-letting major contracts and implementing new government initiatives, often without extra grants. But in an attack on "the ridiculous timescales" and uncertainties that central government expects local authorities to operate to, Ms Ferguson said: "They keep local authorities in the dark and they do little to help forward financial planning." As an example, she was able to cite the windfall of an unexpected £435,000 business growth grant for Waverley announced too late to be included in the budget figures. However, the windfall will go into the council's reserves - a real bonus for the Liberal Democrats, who stand accused by the Conservative opposition of running balances down to an irresponsible level in order to grab the headlines with a low tax increase. Ms Ferguson said that the executive had consistently aimed at presenting a budget with an inflation-only concil tax increase, "despite officers' justifiable suggestions that longer- term prudency could justify a 4.9 per cent increase". Conservative group leader Richard Gates, in his reply, denounced what he described as "this imprudent and financially irresponsible budget". And he went on to refer to "the cavalier manner in which this administration is misusing the very sound financial position, with balances of more than £9 million, which they inherited from the previous Conservative administration". He pointed out: "Since they became the administration, £3.2 million of balances has been used, with further use of over £3 million projected for the following two years. This is clearly not sustainable." Mr Gates described the Liberal Democrat budget as being in line with The Economist's description of Lib Dem national budget policy as "a rag-bag of shallow opportunism and intellectual incoherence". Conservative proposals for a cross-party group to review Waverley's medium-term financial strategy and for the replacement of children's play equipment to be accelerated were both voted down. • Surrey County Council told The Herald on Wednesday that it is not among the local authorities that have been sent letters by Local Government Minister Phil Woolas, asking them to reconsider council tax rises set at five per cent or above. A number of councils have defied warnings that they will be capped if they do not keep the tax increase below the five per cent level. The Surrey spokesman said it is not among them, however, as the precise rate of its increase is 4.995 per cent.CONFIRMATION by Waverley Council that it will limit its council tax increase to 2.4 per cent this year will not save the borough's householders from an overall rise of more than double the rate of inflation. Rises of five per cent imposed by Surrey County Council and 5.8 per cent from Surrey Police Authority have sent the total bill - which also includes the demands of town and parish councils - soaring by 4.9 per cent. The average, Band D, taxpayer in Waverley will have to find an extra £51 a year. Their total bill, at £1,309.34, will top £25 a week, but will nevertheless be the lowest in Surrey, thanks to Waverley Council's comparatively low increase, as the borough council leader Gillian Ferguson pointed out in her budget speech to the full council on Tuesday. Of the 2.4 per cent rise put forward by the Liberal Democrat administration, Ms Ferguson said: "To put this in perspective, this is an increase of just £3.33 over last year - that's 6p a week. "Waverley's council tax will be £142.11 a year for an average Band D council tax payer - Waverley's share of the total tax bill is less than 11 per cent, with most of the rest going to Surrey County Council and the police authority, who are increasing their tax by 5 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively." Among schemes singled out in the capital programme for 2006/07, Ms Ferguson said Waverley will start a £1.8 million investment in refurbishing Farnham Leisure Centre, will spend £358,000 on new playground equipment in 2006-07 and a similar sum the following year, and will provide £217,000 for Farnham Maltings in line with earlier commitments. Outlining the council's financial strategy, the leader said that since its first day in office, the administration had been improving Waverley's cost effectiveness, saving more than £300,000 a year on the staffing budget, more than £400,000 a year on re-letting major contracts and implementing new government initiatives, often without extra grants. But in an attack on "the ridiculous timescales" and uncertainties that central government expects local authorities to operate to, Ms Ferguson said: "They keep local authorities in the dark and they do little to help forward financial planning." As an example, she was able to cite the windfall of an unexpected £435,000 business growth grant for Waverley announced too late to be included in the budget figures. However, the windfall will go into the council's reserves - a real bonus for the Liberal Democrats, who stand accused by the Conservative opposition of running balances down to an irresponsible level in order to grab the headlines with a low tax increase. Ms Ferguson said that the executive had consistently aimed at presenting a budget with an inflation-only concil tax increase, "despite officers' justifiable suggestions that longer- term prudency could justify a 4.9 per cent increase". Conservative group leader Richard Gates, in his reply, denounced what he described as "this imprudent and financially irresponsible budget". And he went on to refer to "the cavalier manner in which this administration is misusing the very sound financial position, with balances of more than £9 million, which they inherited from the previous Conservative administration". He pointed out: "Since they became the administration, £3.2 million of balances has been used, with further use of over £3 million projected for the following two years. This is clearly not sustainable." Mr Gates described the Liberal Democrat budget as being in line with The Economist's description of Lib Dem national budget policy as "a rag-bag of shallow opportunism and intellectual incoherence". Conservative proposals for a cross-party group to review Waverley's medium-term financial strategy and for the replacement of children's play equipment to be accelerated were both voted down. • Surrey County Council told The Herald on Wednesday that it is not among the local authorities that have been sent letters by Local Government Minister Phil Woolas, asking them to reconsider council tax rises set at five per cent or above. A number of councils have defied warnings that they will be capped if they do not keep the tax increase below the five per cent level. The Surrey spokesman said it is not among them, however, as the precise rate of its increase is 4.995 per cent.
