by Felicity Collier

LABOUR urged Britain’s top civil servant yesterday to launch a probe into Surrey County Council’s alleged sweetheart deal with the government for social care funding.

The party called on Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood to investigate possible conflicts of interest in the way ministers handled their contacts at the Tory-controlled council.

Labour says a dodgy deal between the government and the council led to councillors dropping plans for a referendum needed to introduce a 15 per cent rise in council tax intended to plug social care funding gaps. Instead the council set a tax rise of 4.99 per cent, which does not require a public vote.

At Prime Minister’s Questions last month, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded answers from Prime Minister Theresa May after a leaked recording of a private meeting revealed that council leader David Hodge had used the term “gentlemen’s agreement.”

And a cache of documents released last week detailed behind-the-scenes discussions with ministers offering “some extra funding” from 2018 shortly before the council dropped the bigger rise.

Shadow social care minister Barbara Keeley blasted: “Why did the leader of Surrey County Council get continual access to meetings with the Chancellor and the Communities Secretary to discuss his council’s funding problems while council leaders from Salford and Hull cannot get such meetings?

“We now see that Surrey County Council will get the biggest increase in share of the funding for social care. There are questions to be answered on all of this.”

A government spokesman stated that it was untrue that a special deal had been struck.

felicitycollier@peoples-press.com