SURREY County Council is 'wasting' £5.1m of taxpayers' money on spin, according to figures published by the Taxpayers' Alliance. The report identifies Surrey as the seventh worst county in the country for wasting money on glossies and PR and claims it spends more money on communications than even some of the big northern metropolitans councils. The alliance, an independent grassroots campaign for lower taxes, says it did its sums with the help of Freedom of Information requests. And although a county spokesman has called the figures "misleading" and says the council does not recognise them, leading Liberal Democrats on the council this week agreed that too much money was being wasted on spin and were shocked at SCC's recent revelation that more than £2 million was going on advertising jobs. The Taxpayers' Alliance report reveals that local authorities in the county as a whole spent £7.7 million on public relations, glossy magazines and leaflets, most of which was spent by the county council. This comes at a time when the council plans to cut back spending on services, in particular adult care services and youth development. Leader of the Liberal group Hazel Watson said: "Surrey County Council needs to cut down on its publications and glossies. I question how much residents actually read them anyway. I would prefer it if the council spent the money on services, which is what we're here for. "We also need more clarification on exactly where all this money is being spent." Sarah Di Caprio, spokesman for South West Surrey Liberal Democrats and a county councillor said: "Too much money is being spent on communications and we've been monitoring this for some time. "This is about mismanagement. Last week we talked about mismanagement of job vacancies, now this week it's mismanagement of funds. The Conservatives have been cutting back on jobs and now they're spending £2 million on advertising jobs. "We know that youth development is being cut back and adult care services are under review so the Conservatives can make more cuts and my concern is that Surrey Conservatives are wasting money that could be spent on maintaining these vital services." A spokesman for Surrey County Council said: "The figures presented are completely misleading and we do not recognise them. The county council's spending on publicity is less than half the amount claimed. We have a duty to provide value for money and be as effective and as efficient as possible – while at the same time ensuring that the 1.1 million residents in Surrey are aware of the huge range of services we provide. "These services include social services, libraries, schools, trading standards and highways and it is important that we consider all appropriate channels to reach as many people as possible. "We achieve this at a cost of about £2 per person. "The figures misrepresent our spending on publicity because they include spending on job advertisements and the county council faces several key recruitment pressures – we border London, unemployment is low in the South East, which reduces the field of applicants, and the recruitment market is very competitive. "We have a total workforce of more than 33,000 staff in a host of different employment relationships doing more than 2,000 types of jobs and, as an outstanding council, we need the best people possible to deliver the services Surrey residents expect. "We are endeavouring to use the web more as a recruitment tool, but as we are a council that strongly promotes equality of opportunity, we could not rely on it solely because 40 per cent of our residents do not have regular access to the internet." According to the report, Waverley Borough Council spends £324,000 a year on PR and glossies, which is a rise of 54 per cent over the past 10 years. Waverley argues that the percentage increase and amount it spends on communications is completely justified and an efficient and appropriate use of taxpayers money. Adam Taylor-Smith, Waverley's portfolio holder for communications, said: "The report from the Taxpayers' Alliance ranks Waverley Borough Council as 270th in a national league table of spending and it also identified that Waverley spends less per head than the average spent by other councils. Expenditure is always under review but it is right and proper for any council such as Waverley to keep residents notified about the work undertaken and the services of the council.   "The expenditure on publicity includes the promotion of events and the various statutory requirements that Waverley must by law notify to residents, for example, about the local taxes set each year, planning notices, the availability of the statement of accounts and about the register of electors. In addition the expenditure identified includes the cost of recruitment advertising and the council's magazine for residents. "The Taxpayers' Alliance seeks to simplistically imply that all money spent on publicity must be wasted money. Clearly the council has a duty to communicate with residents and to be accountable to them. I am happy to be transparent about what money is spent by the council on communication. Waverley's spending on informing residents is not excessive and is generally correctly targeted.