The Elmbridge portion of council tax is due to be kept at the same level next year, the leader of the Elmbridge Council has said.

Councillor Roy Taylor said that although he could not be sure of a figure until nearer April - he is aiming to keep taxes at the same rate without service cuts.

He said: "We are on target to have a zero increase in council tax."

The same cannot be said of Surrey County Council's portion which last year rose by £61 to £991 for an average band D property.

The council is seeking a meeting with Phil Woolas, the Local Government minister, after only getting a 0.4 per cent rise in its central Government grant for next year.

Leader of Surrey County Council, Nick Skellett said that Surrey gets a raw deal.

He said: "On a like-for-like basis, for all local Government services - including county councils, districts, fire and police - each Surrey resident receives less than £250 of Government funding.

"Despite these difficulties, we hope to have a tax rise lower than last year's, with a medium term aim of pegging rises to the rate of inflation - this year we hope to be within one per cent of the Retail Price Index.

"This is of course more than I would like, but an achievement nonetheless in the circumstances."

Surrey County Council's overall settlement from the Government is just over £105million, against an overall budget of around £600million. The remainder will need to be raised from council tax. Both councils will approve their final figure in February 2007.

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