Surrey County Council’s launched a last minute bid to secure extra government funding after Whitehall slashed its grant for 2016 by nearly £50m.

With growing demand for services, the county’s Cabinet is proposing councillors increase council tax by 3.9%. However, they are concerned that without a rethink by ministers residents will only see services reduced further as the proposed cut in government funding will dwarf the £24m raised from the tax rise.

The Government surprised councils across the country on 17 December when it introduced a new method for distributing council funding. This resulted in the 42% grant cut for Surrey and led the county council to immediately open discussions with Government officials to highlight the flaws in the new approach.

Surrey’s Leader, David Hodge, said the county council’s case had been accepted by all 11 local MPs.

They are due to meet with local government secretary Greg Clark this week to press home the point.