Richmond Council was accused of “short-term opportunism” after pledging to freeze council tax for a sixth consecutive year.

Deputy leader Councillor Geoffrey Samuel unveiled the budget during a special council meeting at York House, Twickenham, on Tuesday (March 1).

He said the additional £7.5m funding from central Government and a cut in Greater London Authority tax contributed to the freeze.

But opposition councillors accused Coun Samuel of leaving a “£9m black hole” in the budget.

Speaking after the debate, leader of Richmond’s Liberal Democrats Councillor Gareth Roberts said: “While another freeze may prove popular in the short term, the £9m still needs to be found.

“All the easy and most of the more challenging savings have already been made, which leaves only the tough choices and that means cuts to major front line services.

“Unfortunately Coun Samuel appears to have a very low opinion of local residents if he thinks they prefer short-term opportunism over protecting services.”

But Coun Samuel, cabinet member for finance, described the response from the Lib Dems as the “weakest opposition performance at a budget debate” he had ever seen.

He said: “The opposition is there to perform two roles – one is to oppose those in power and the other is to offer the alternative strategy.

“Not one of them had anything constructive to say and it was an extremely weak performance.”

Responding to the criticism of his decision to freeze council tax, Coun Samuel said it would be “deeply cynical” to raise tax over the next two years but freeze it in a local election year.

He added: “Thanks to the funding, council tax will again not increase this year, but I must sound a note of caution – this extra funding is only temporary and hence we must continue our efforts to be ever more efficient.

“In addition to freezing the council tax, we are also investing in those key priorities that residents have told us are important.”

He highlighted schools and pavements as areas for investment.

During his speech to the chamber, Coun Samuel warned Richmond residents that the council “would not be able to protect you from the inevitable consequences of a London Labour mayor”.

Richmond’s only Labour Councillor Jennifer Churchill said: “More questions were asked than answered during the meeting.

“Even assuming a 3.99 per cent increase in council tax every year going forward, and assuming the council will face low increases in service demand whilst achieving really tough budget cuts, the forecast for the council's finances going forward is a £10m black hole opening up over the next four years.

“The concern is that cuts become harder as the council gets smaller and smaller.”

KEY NUMBERS FROM THE BUDGET

- Government grant for Richmond cut by 66 per cent over the next five years

- The council will take the 2 per cent precept for social care, as recommended by Chancellor George Osborne

- Capital budget is £190m, with over 50 per cent on schools and a provisional £15m on affordable housing

- Five year programmes: £1.5m on parks, £5m for roads and pavements (plus £2.5m for community-nominated pavements), £2.5m for street lighting

- £5m of council reserves to spread Government grant funding cut

- Expenditure budget for 2016/17 is £153m, then provisionally £151m, £155m, £160m

- 51 per cent of budget on adult services, 20 per cent on children