FARNHAM MP and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called on people to save for their social care as well as their pensions, following reports of Surrey County Council’s “social care crisis”.

The county council has warned Surrey residents to brace themselves for a potential 18 per cent hike in council tax in April after admitting it “simply can’t cope” with the scale of cuts to its central Government funding.

Responding in an interview with The Herald, the MP for South West Surrey and Health Secretary Mr Hunt expressed sympathy with the council’s position and vowed to help make sure the county’s most vulnerable residents are cared for.

He said: “I know it is an exceptionally difficult situation and I have a great deal of sympathy for Surrey. Both county council leader David Hodge and his deputy leader, Peter Martin, have kept me fully informed of the precariousness of the situation.

“As Health Secretary, I am aware of the key issues facing the county. Whatever the pressures, we have to make sure we look after our most vulnerable residents.

“I appreciate the three per cent increase just announced by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid is a step in the right direction.

“But our Prime Minister Theresa May has said we need to make fundamental changes in the long term.

“People will need to save for their social care much as they do for their pension as many are finding social care a considerable expense in the last years of their lives.

“One of my hopes for 2017 is to find a solution to the social care issues in Surrey.”

Speaking in the days before Christmas, Mr Hunt also addressed Waverley Borough Council’s Draft Local Plan to build 10,000 houses by 2032 and the need to help local people get on the housing ladder.

He continued: “I have mixed feelings about the increased housing target, as someone who grew up in a Surrey village.

“But I have changed my mind in recent years because I have met so many local residents whose children and grandchildren are unable to get on the housing ladder.

“We need more houses but it has to be done in a sustainable way with appropriate development in the infrastructure.

“If we don’t build more homes, much of the area will become impossible for our young people to live in and that would be a huge shame.”

On his hopes for 2017, the MP added: “2016 has seen massive change both nationally and internationally with a new prime minister, a new relationship with Europe and a new American president.

“My hope is we resolve the things that really matter to our country and bring our country back together again afterwards.

“It’s important we implement what the British people decided but we need to do so in a way that maintains our position as the world’s greatest trading nation, open to ideas from all over the world.”

The third-longest serving Secretary of State for Health since the dawn of the NHS also paid a special tribute to the area’s healthcare workers, many of whom worked throughout the festive period.

“With my NHS hat on, I would like to thank my brilliant staff,” Mr Hunt said.

“Many worked over Christmas and they have never worked harder than they do now because the pressure of an ageing population is increasing demand for NHS services.

“One of the things I hope for is to tackle better social isolation and the loneliness of people living on their own. We have some brilliant local voluntary organisations who work to do just that. We need to support them.”