Richmond Council will be forced to "clobber its residents" by increasing council tax despite assurances from the Prime Minister that spending power had gone up.

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Deputy council leader Councillor Geoffrey Samuel said David Cameron was being "unfair" by expecting residents to pay more council tax, following a 48 per cent cut to its Government grant.

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But the Prime Minister told the Richmond and Twickenham Times last week that the council is actually receiving "extra money", despite the £11.4m cut in funding.

Coun Samuel said: "The council's spending power is how much money the council has got - that includes the Government grant, fees and charges and council tax.

"The Prime Minister is saying put council tax up here, that will increase spending power and we don't have to support it.

"I regard that totally unfair.

"In Richmond, 40 per cent of people live in Band E homes or below, people like nurses, classroom assistants, PCSOs and shop workers.

"It is perfectly fair to say people earning the household income average in Richmond is £53,000 should pay more but what about the 40 per cent who aren't?

"Spending power is very clever - we get more money by clobbering our residents."

The cabinet member for finance said he must now consider how to raise more money, having previously said there will be cuts to front-line services and increases to fees and charges.

Richmond Council remains one of the lowest funded boroughs in London after the latest round of cuts to Government grants.

Coun Samuel added: "Our spending power is only high because our council tax is high - in Tower Hamlets, for example, it gets 30 per cent of its money from council tax and fees and charges and 70 per cent from the Government.

"For us, it is the other way around.

"Hammersmith has had its grant funding cut by £11m but that is only 22 per cent to them.

"It is wrong to say that the Government is giving us extra money - it simply isn’t true."

Council tax could rise by at least 2 per cent each year, with a further 2 per cent increase expected due to adult social services financial responsibility being handed over to councils.

Leader of Richmond's Liberal Democrats Councillor Gareth Roberts said it was a "disappointing settlement but not entirely unexpected".

He added: "Perhaps Coun Samuel will regret his silly scaremongering about council tax rising under a Lib Dem administration, as unless he is planning to make further cuts to frontline services he may find that he has little option other than to raise it himself."

Twickenham MP Tania Mathias and Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith have been contacted for comment.