Is Surrey council taking a stand, or letting the Tories off the hook?
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Version 0 of 1. Polly Toynbee’s article in praise of the leader of Surrey county council misses some fundamental points (It’s a crisis indeed when the social care rebels are Tories, 24 January). While David Hodge’s stance may be well-intentioned, it makes him an accessory to his party’s cuts, rather than a rebel against them. Transferring responsibility to local level is a key part of the government’s strategy, so that the blame for its austerity policies can be shifted to others. This is true across the spectrum of local authority and health services. The notion that it is appropriate to transfer the burden of cuts to local council tax-payers should be challenged. Local Government Association and Cipfa leadership might be more usefully directed to this as a campaign focus of national interest. The local tax-base in Surrey is more robust than in the majority of local authorities and its more affluent residents may be able to regard a 15% increase in council tax as affordable. This option is not available to other councils, particularly in the north. Whatever the outcome of the ballot, the government (and even the leader of the county council) is let off the hook.John LynchLeeds • Deborah Orr’s views (Let the war on austerity begin – in Surrey, 21 January) would all be very well if council tax was progressive. But it’s not. Many of us in Surrey are asset rich (as a result of the grotesque increase in house prices) and cash poor (as pensioners). A 15% increase in my council tax would be hugely burdensome. It already accounts for almost 50% of my pension. We don’t want to move house – we have grandchildren who regularly come to stay. I have no objection to an increase in income tax to pay for social care but it is simply unfair to use a blunt instrument like council tax for this purpose.Harry WilesEsher, Surrey • Karen Lowton hit the nail on the head about the added pressure being heaped on already enormously strained council budgets by the rising number of older people needing support for increasingly serious conditions (‘New’ adults will add to care crisis, 25 January). In Surrey, demand from older people requiring the highest levels of care has risen 50% in five years, meaning the county council is spending nearly £9m more than in 2011. If that rate is repeated over the next five years, we face having to find a further £13m. With almost two-thirds of the council’s spending already going on the wellbeing of adults and children and pressures in areas such as special educational needs assistance and learning disability support continuing to rise, extra demand amounts to tens of millions of pounds at a time when our annual government grant has been cut by £170m since 2010. So while many of your readers will be surprised that we have chosen to trigger a referendum on a proposed 15% council tax increase, I’m sure all recognise that we have to set a budget that will protect vital services such as these for Surrey’s residents.David HodgeLeader, Surrey county council • What is lacking is any attempt to examine the full context of Surrey’s situation. On the justification of care in the community, the vast complex of mental institutions in Surrey on the edge of London were sold off for expensive housing. Surely some of that money should have been retained in a sovereign wealth fund to support social care. There are real questions about the wise use of Surrey’s finance, such as the millions spent on its failed attempt to move its headquarters from the London borough of Kingston upon Thames to Woking. Surrey was quite content to sell off its homes for the elderly and other care homes which would have assisted in the current care crisis. David Hodge supports his care workers but I would point out the record of Ofsted’s failure of Surrey’s care services. Yes, the council tax hike here is an excellent way of highlighting the crisis but does it let Gove and his fellow Surrey MPs off the hook? There is virtue in highlighting the savaging of care services by Conservative cuts but an unfair collection of council tax is wrong.Murray RowlandsCamberley, Surrey • Not only do we know that social care is in cataclysmic crisis and need to find a solution, but we need to find one fast (We know social care is in cataclysmic crisis. Now we must find a solution, theguardian.com, 24 January). This week Care England, the largest representative body for independent providers of social care services, has written to all lead councillors with responsibility for adult social care. We have urged them to use the front-loaded precept and adult social care support grant to reach the front line of social care provision by paying realistic fees, based on the true cost of care. We understand that local authorities are facing unprecedented pressures on resources and that social care providers are facing oppressive and unmanageable strains, given a cost base largely made up of over 70% payroll costs which have increased significantly year on year, leaving little by way of capacity for efficiencies to be implemented. This is having a material effect on their sustainability and, therefore, the services offered in localities.Professor Martin Green Chief executive, Care England • “The time has come for council leaders to tell the people what is happening”. Bravo David Hodge (Polly Toynbee, 24 January). And “The women’s march showed us the gestural power of mass action” (Marching into history, G2). So it is time for mass action in every council. But not by raising council tax. Councillors could orchestrate mass demonstrations to tell the people that what is happening is that government is cutting local services not out of economic necessity but as a shock doctrine, neoliberal strategy. I wonder what would happen if every councillor in the land threatened to follow the example of the Isle of Wight councillors. Could the government cope with mass resignations countrywide?John AirsLiverpool • The great journalist Martha Gellhorn once asserted that “the last defence of civilisation is the rebellion of the individual conscience”. Despite the dark political forces that swirl around us, the principled stand by David Hodge surely gives us cause for optimism and, paraphrasing a well-known nation’s motto, “E unum pluribus”. Donald ElliottIpswich, Suffolk • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |