Epsom and Ewell residents could pay up to 6 per cent more council tax if plans to change the way central Government allocates money to local councils each year are given the green light.

The "catastrophic" proposals will mean Surrey County Council could stand to lose up to £24.2million of Government funding, according to Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling.A 23-year-old who decided to follow in his family's footsteps has just become the fifth generation of doctors in the Flower family. Oliver Flower wanted to become a doctor since he was eight years old and his dreams finally came true last week when he graduated from Nottingham University. Oliver said: "I knew from a really young age I wanted to be a doctor and continue the family tradition. I was lucky enough to get good grades in school to go and study in Nottingham. I am really pleased I passed. It has been quite a long slog but I am now looking forward to doing the rounds in my first job in the Isle of Man." His father, John Flower, 59, who practises in the Derby Medical Centre, in the Ebbisham Centre, said: "It was wonderful to see him collect his degree from the chancellor of the university. Although he is now a qualified doctor, he will be partly breaking the mould because he wants to train for another seven years to become a ophthalmologist." Deadlinepix ND460-4

This follows the announcement on Monday by local government Minister Nick Raynsford MP of a new consultation document setting out three alternative formulas to decide on the system of allocating the cash. He said the new formulas would make the system fairer and simpler and would replace the complicated standard spending assessment system currently used to allocate £36billion every year to local councils in England.

The plans aim to tackle deprivation by redistributing the cash. In effect, the shortfall would be made up by a tax rise in more affluent areas.

But Mr Grayling says the proposed formulas will be "catastrophic" for Surrey County Council, which allocates funds to Epsom for important services including education and highways.

According to Mr Grayling, Surrey County Council stands to loose between £9.6million and £24.2million of Government funding.

A spokesman for Surrey said it was too early to say how much money Surrey would loose out on but confirmed there was potential for it to receive less funding.

She said: "We have to carry out detailed analysis, but potentially some of the options proposed in the consultation paper could lead to Surrey County Council receiving a lesser Government grant. Surrey residents and business will therefore pay more, not only for their own services, but effectively they will pay more towards the services for others outside the county."

Mr Grayling is concerned the changes will drive up the already high cost of living in Surrey by forcing local governments to increase council tax to make up the shortfall in budgets. As a result, key workers such as teachers, nurses and police officers will be forced to leave.

He said: "An awful lot of the budget is made up of fixed costs like teachers' salaries which we can't cut. This will probably mean council tax will have to go up."

The consultation process is scheduled to take around 12 weeks.

July 12, 2002 15:30