'There's no magic money tree,' warns council leader

A BBC investigation shows Surrey County Council has one of the largest predicted deficits of English local authorities for 2026-27

There will need to be a reform of local authorities if they are to continue to provide services with less money, the leader of Surrey County Council says.

BBC analysis shows Surrey is facing a £151.7m black hole over the next two financial years.

It is the second largest predicted deficit in England of councils who responded to a survey by the BBC's Shared Data Unit.

Conservative Surrey County Council leader, Tim Oliver, who is also chairman of the County Council Network (CCN), says he is “realistic that there isn’t going to be a magic money tree” and that local government will not get “significant sums”.

Surrey is also among the 10 local authorities in England set to make the most savings in the 2024-25 financial year.

The council is planning to save £53.7m, which is 4.44% of its net revenue budget.

Fixing potholes is one of the rising costs facing Surrey.

The biggest financial pressure on Surrey is adult social care, which involves looking after a growing-older adult population, as well as vulnerable people.

There is also rising demand for special educational needs and mental health services, as well as increasing costs on services including road repairs.

“I think there has to be a two way conversation,” Mr Oliver told BBC Radio Surrey.

“One with the government to say if you are not going to give us more money, you have got to help us look at things in a different way, and also a conversation with the residents to say we have got to collectively work together to find better solutions (and) better outcomes, without necessarily having more money to do that.”

'Deep-rooted problems'

Analysis also shows that Woking Borough Council, which is getting £95.6m from the government in 2024-25, is one of 19 local authorities receiving emergency support.

Local government minister Jim McMahon said the "deep-rooted problems won’t be fixed overnight".

The the government was "committed to fixing the foundations, reforming and rebuilding the sector from the ground up to begin to get ahead of the underlying pressures for the benefit of councils and local communities," he said, adding it will "take time".

Mr McMahon says the government will work "hand-in-hand with councils by moving towards multi-year funding settlements to provide long-term stability, ending competitive bidding processes, and ensure the sector gets back on its feet".