Tory minister condemns Surrey tax rise
8 Feb 2012
The Tory Secretary of State for Local Government, Eric Pickles, has criticised Councils for increases in Council tax for the coming year. He spoke of the Councils having a "moral duty" to freeze the levy.
Mr Pickles was particularly critcal of Surrey County Council 2.99% rise saying "Surrey's failure to get to grips with their finances has led to this rise and quite frankly why should the public pay the price for their poor financial management?" An article in the Tory supporting Daily Telegraph said "Last week, a five-year planning document admitted that the previous Surrey council administration had led to costs that were "spiralling out of control".