Surrey‘s £105m crisis

SURREY council is facing a £105million cash deficit.

The Tory-run area has lost 12.8 per cent of its funding over the next financial year and has suffered government cuts of £200million since 2010, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found.

‘We’ve agreed a threeyear budget despite the severe financial pressure we and councils across the country are under, due to rising demand for our services and falling government funding,’ a spokesman told The Times. Surrey is the richest county in England.

Northamptonshire council, which is also Tory-run, was banned from spending last week after it was effectively declared bankrupt. It is the first time in almost 20 years a council in England has suffered the penalty.