A three-pronged Conservative attack has been credited with securing an additional £7.5m for Richmond in Government grant funding.
DECEMBER: Prime Minister's extra money for council claims "simply not true" as council tax set to rise
Deputy leader Councillor Geoffrey Samuel announced in December that Richmond Council would be “forced to clobber residents” after losing 48 per cent of its funding from Westminster.
PREVIOUSLY: Tania Mathias "disappointed" as MPs react to council's Government grant cut
But, two months on, he says the combination of council leader Lord True and MPs Zac Goldsmith and Tania Mathias caused Local Government Secretary Greg Clark to boost the York House coffers.
He said: “The Government is giving us an extra £2.9m this year and next year, as well as another £1.7m the year after that.
“That is entirely due to the lobbying done by Lord True and our two MPs, who both lobbied the minister personally.
“All those years of Liberal Democrat MPs in Twickenham and Richmond and a Lib Dem council resulted in nothing and it is entirely thanks to our three parliamentarians.”
It was announced last year that the council faced a reduction of £31m over the next four years.
Coun Samuel accused Prime Minister David Cameron of being "unfair" by expecting residents to pay more council tax to plug the hole.
He was asked by leader of Richmond’s Lib Dems Councillor Gareth Roberts at a recent council meeting whether he had done enough to secure a good deal for Richmond.
Speaking today, Coun Samuel said: “Coun Roberts has been left with egg on his face after he taunted us about not getting a better deal from the Government.”
He added that the council was “still working out” what the £7.5m boost means for its budget, due to be announced in the coming months.
Coun Roberts said: “Coun Samuel's attempts to pass this off as a personal victory would be laughable if the total scale of the cuts wasn't so horrendous.
“Unfortunately for Geoffrey most informed commentators accept this announcement has little to do with the stamping of tiny feet at York House and everything to do with a threatened rebellion of back bench MPs ahead of next week's local government finance vote.
“Welcome as any short term reprieve may be, local residents should be under no illusions - the massive cuts being forced on this borough by an austerity obsessed Conservative government are still on their way and for all their handwringing in public, Coun Samuel and his Conservative colleagues will be cheering them on in private."
Greg Clark also confirmed that the requirement for the hardest hit councils to pay an additional business rates tariff had been lifted.
Dr Mathias said: “I met with the Secretary of State, Greg Clark, after the initial announcement on local government funding and expressed major concern that Richmond does not get enough credit for being one of the most efficient councils in the country while receiving one of the lowest amounts of central Government funding.
“I am glad that the transitional arrangements recognise this to some extent, but I share the council’s disappointment at the overall funding settlement for this period.”
Labour Councillor Jennifer Churchill added: "Tory gloating over this latest development is completely inappropriate.
"Everyone else can see that this stitch-up stinks to high-heaven.
"It is the worst kind of politics, and is only pushing the problem a couple of years down the line in any case."
Mr Goldsmith has been contacted for a comment.
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