Interim SCC Chief Executive issues damning report of the Tory run County Council.

8.28.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 27th Jul 2009

The outgoing Interim Chief Executive of Surrey County Council, Mr Michael Frater, has issued a damning report of the Tory-led Council. The report describes the Tory-led County Council as arrogant, bureaucratic, lacking in vision, direction and strategy, obsessed with itself, inefficient, unsophisticated, with a culture of blame and bullying, a lack of leadership and in denial about its shortcomings.

The Audit Commission downgraded the Council last year from three stars to one star out of a possible four after critical reports by education inspector OFSTED into children's services and from care inspectors CSCI into adults social care.

However, Mr Frater said that it was "delusional and misleading" to suggest that the only problems were in social services.

Mr Frater said:" This is a whole system failure which has first become evident in children's and adult services because of the extent of inspection and regulation that these services experience."

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Cllr Hazel Watson said: "This damning report is an accurate assessment of the state of the council. Clearly, Surrey Council taxpayers money is being wasted on costly bureaucracy. It shows that the County Council led by the Conservative administration has lost its way and forgotten that it is there to provide services for Surrey residents."