this is bbc news. the headlines at seven. a discredited government investigation into thousands of allegations of abuse by iraq war veterans is shut down, following a scathing report by mps. this will be a huge relief to hundreds of british troops who have had these quite unfair allegations hanging over them. they're now being freed of that. the health secretaryjeremy hunt concedes that the problems facing the nhs are completely unacceptable — but says there is a plan to help hospitals cope. overall there are positive things as well as negative things, and there is huge commitment in the nhs to sort out those negative things. cocaine with a street value of £50 million has been washed up on the norfolk coast. scottish power raises its energy prices while british gas announces a price freeze until august. also in the next hour — the desperate efforts to save whales that have washed up on the shores of new zealand. volunteers are trying to rescue more than 400 pilot whales —

one of the largest mass strandings ever seen in the country. and a couple of new additions for the one of the world's most famous couples, after its announced that the clooneys are expecting twins. good evening and welcome to bbc news. a £34 million government investigation into allegations of abuse by iraq war veterans is to be shut down. it follows a report by mps which called the work of the iraq historic allegations team an unmitigated failure. thousands of cases have been investigated but without

a single prosecution. around 90% of misconduct cases involving british troops who served in afghanistan are also being dropped. caroline hawley has more. it is almost 14 years since british troops invaded iraq and the legacy of the war is still causing controversy. in the aftermath of the occupation thousands of allegations of abuse were made against british soldiers. and a special team called ihat was set up to investigate them. the human—rights lawyer phil shiner brought most of the claims but last week he was struck off after he had been found to be dishonest and to have paid agents to drum up business. now the ministry of defence is wrapping up the investigation early. this will be a huge relief to hundreds of british troops who have had these quite unfair allegations hanging over them. they are now being freed of that and we will put in place new measures to ensure that this never happens again, that there are proper safeguards to prevent completely malicious and unfounded allegations being made against our brave servicemen and women. there is no doubt that some abuses did happen in iraq, these were detainees being beaten in basra in 2003 and over the past

few years the ministry of defence has paid out millions in compensation. but the ihat investigation has been criticised for getting out of hand. it was set up seven years ago and it has had to examine more than 3000 claims. it has cost over £34 million. ihat and its work has always been controversial in the military but the downfall of phil shiner and mounting concern over the toll it was taking on former soldiers and their families has led the mod to act. i think this is something important, it will make a big statement to the army and most importantly it shows that the government is foursquare behind supporting the army and providing it with the appropriate framework in which our soldiers can deal with those very difficult operational decisions that they have to deal with. of all the allegations made over the course of britain's long involvement in iraq, the ministry of defence now says that by the summer only about 20 will be left to be investigated.

well, we can speak now to colonel richard kemp, former head of the british army. he served in iraq during the first gulf war and again in iraq between 2004—6. he also worked in the cabinet office, where his responsibilities included iraq. hejoins us now from kent. thank you very much forjoining us, what is your response to this investigation, which has been going on so investigation, which has been going on so long and cost so much money? it should have been shut down along time ago, in fact it should never have been opened up. it was opened up have been opened up. it was opened up because a previous british government was terrified, it had signed up to the international criminal court and it was terrified that the i see would our soldiers in the dock so it went overboard and allowed spurious charges to be brought against our troops. it has

been really damaging for the morale of our soldiers and the reputation of our soldiers and the reputation of the british army, so i am really pleased that theresa may and michael fallon have taken the decision to shut it down. what impact has it had on those individuals who have been subject to this scrutiny?” on those individuals who have been subject to this scrutiny? i know several of them and i know some who have been investigated for over a decade, a series of investigations, found not guilty in one but caught up found not guilty in one but caught upfor found not guilty in one but caught up for another. these people have experienced horrific events in battle, seen their friends experienced horrific events in battle, seen theirfriends blown experienced horrific events in battle, seen their friends blown up and witnessed things none of us have witnessed, and they are forced to relive it all and they and their families are put under great pressure, we have seen some of them close to suicide, we have seen depression, people who have lost theirjobs and had their lives wrecked by this exercise. it is not just greed of lawyers, it has been a

political campaign and we have to make sure it never happens again. how well have the senior officers in the army met their duty of care to these soldiers? i think not well at all. i think the current generation of senior officers have probably played their role, for example the current chief of staff, he has probably had his role in bringing this to an end, but previously some of the generals have not served the army well. not just the army of the generals have not served the army well. notjust the army but of the generals have not served the army well. not just the army but the other forces. the forces army well. not just the army but the otherforces. the forces require loyalty, not just upwards otherforces. the forces require loyalty, notjust upwards but downwards as well, and generals should look after their men, stick by them and make sure their men are not abused in this way, and if need be they should fall on their swords, resign or threaten resignation u nless resign or threaten resignation unless their concerns are addressed.

many generals in the past had very deep concerns over this process. loyalty is one thing but if things do go wrong how can allegations be properly investigated in an independent manner if not through an investigation like the one we have seen? traditionally investigations or allegations against british forces have been investigated by the military justice system, forces have been investigated by the militaryjustice system, which is overseen by the attorney general, it is purely independent. that is the correct method of investigating, which michael fallon says will investigate the residual cases. of course there are genuine cases of soldiers doing what they shouldn't be, sometimes they make mistakes and sometimes you get bad people and they need to be investigated but they need to be investigated but they should be investigated by service police and dealt with if necessary by court—martial, but they

should be a great deal of latitude given, because what many people can't understand is that when a soldier does something wrong in battle it's not like south london drug dealer going out and knifing somebody who owes him money, it is probably somebody who is suffering from immense battlefield pressure, facing very difficult circumstances and maybe makes an error of judgment, so we have to give latitude as well is investigate the genuine cases. you mentioned earlier that you thought the reputation of the british army had been damaged. how do you repair that? it is not just damage to the reputation of the british army among our country and our friends, you have british army among our country and ourfriends, you have to remember also the extent to which these allegations would have been seen by jihadists, by our enemies, who are fighting us, to recruit, raise money and motivate people to go out and

kill. i wouldn't be surprised if people had been killed as a result of this campaign because the lies have been used as fact in this recruitment process. it is an extremely serious matter that previous governments have been complicit in. it is notjust lawyers like shiner, it is governments and civil servants. they need to be held to account. 0bviously civil servants. they need to be held to account. obviously the way to repair the damage done is to ensure that we highlight where the army is doing good work, we don't allow any further cases of the army or the armed forces being indicted improperly in the way they have been. it is a very difficult challenge now, i think i'm a because many people believe some of these allegations. what has happened needs to be publicised widely. i consider that many members of the media

should credit themselves are bringing this enquiry to an end, because many members of the media have brought pressure on the government, and covered some of the misdoings of people like shiner and wrought tesche on the government to bring it to a halt. —— brought pressure. thank you very much for speaking to us. let's speak to our political correspondent chris mason at westminster. why has it taken sole and to realise that this investigation wasn't fit for purpose? that is a question being asked by campaigners at westminster who have been pushing the government to do something pretty radical as far as ihat is concerned. johnny mercer, the chairman of the defence subcommittee that has been looking into this and has published its report today to coincide with the government announcement, it broke forward the publication of the report once it

got wind of the fact that michael fallon was going to say something, he has been arguing for some time that the government needed to act in this regard. the mod say that the case involving phil shiner had to work its way through and then to be struck off before they could react in this way because thatjudgment undermines so many of the cases that we re undermines so many of the cases that were pending and on its books. what is really striking, picking up from your conversation with colonel kemp, is that the argument being made by johnny mercer himself about the specific effect that this had on so many people who were under investigation, of course you can ask bigger questions about the millions of pounds spent and the fact that this had gone on for seven years, but a really striking line in this report from johnny mercer's subcommittee, talking about how the

bonds of trust between those who serve and their civilian masters being eroded. really strong criticism here of the mod, saying they must take responsibility for allowing this to happen. they could have discriminated between credible and non—credible cases but they lacked the will to do so. they need to immediately dismiss the remaining cases, this is language before we heard the news from michael fallon, because they basically based on weak evidence. looking at the response from sir michael fallon in making this announcement, going back to the earlier point and answering your question, he is saying once the mod had supplied the main evidence that got phil shiner struck off, they we re got phil shiner struck off, they were able to make the announcement they did today because the decision of the solicitors' disciplinary tribunal to strike him off means

that many of those allegations had been widely discredited, meaning that the ihat case load had been whittled down significantly, allowing them to make the announcement that it will soon have completed its work. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are rosamund urwin, columnist at the london evening standard, and martin lipton, deputy head of sport at the sun. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, says it's "completely unacceptable" that some patients in england are waiting up to 13 hours in a&e. figures show that waiting times in casualty units are worse than at any time in the last decade. and the number of operations cancelled at the last minute hit a 15—year high last year. mr hunt insists he does have an improvement plan — though didn't reveal it — and he admits it will take time. he was talking to our health editor hugh pym. the worst monthly a&e figures in more than a decade. we have corridor nurses now as well.

times are very desperate. images like this across bbc news. no—one would want it for members of their own family. it has been a difficult few days for the health secretary and he has now come out and acknowledged that some of what is happening in the hospitals in england is unacceptable. the bbc has shown images from royal blackburn of people waiting 13 hours, mothers and babies sitting in the corridor, aren't you embarrassed ? it is incredibly frustrating for me. i am doing thisjob because i want nhs care to be the safest and best in the world. that kind of care is completely unacceptable, no—one would want it for members of their own family. ara sibley‘s story featured on bbc news this week. she had to wait six months in hospital before a care—home place was available. what did jeremy hunt have to say to her family? i don't want to make any kind of excuses. it is totally unacceptable.

it is terrible for mrs sibley but also very bad for the nhs... it is not the only case of its kind. no. there are no excuses. it is completely unacceptable. her son said he was pleased that jeremy hunt had recognised that his mother was let down but he had this message for the health secretary. what i would like to say tojeremy hunt is to admit, to have the guts to admit, that the system of social funding is broken. if we have to pay more, i would say tojeremy hunt, i am prepared to pay more tax and i am sure most of the country would be as well, because our old people are worth it. and the state of social care was something i raised withjeremy hunt. the prime minister has been very clear. we recognise the pressure is there. we recognise there is a problem about the sustainability of the social care system and that has to be addressed and we will do that. there have been calls for more

funding for the nhs in england, including from an american health expert who advised david cameron and jeremy hunt — he thinks the current spending plans of the government are set too low. i have serious doubts as to whether you can have the healthcare that is universal, not rationed, and responsive to needs at that target level. so i am concerned. but others say it is notjust about money and getting the nhs to be more efficient is important, with new ways of working the real priority. mr hunt says that change is needed on many fronts. i think it is wrong to suggest to people that these profound challenges such as we face with an ageing population are ones where there is a silver bullet that you can solve the problem overnight. we also need the help of the public, because we know that a number of the people seen in a&e could actually have their needs dealt with in another part of the nhs. new figures show last—minute cancelled operations in england were up i6% last year, whether it is a&e, routine surgery

or community care, the pressure is clear across the nhs. you can see all of our special reports on the state of the nhs on our website. president trump has reacted defiantly to the decision by the appeals court, which has refused to reinstate his ban on travellers from seven mainly muslim countries. "see you in court" was his response, made via twitter of course. the controversial immigration reform was suspended last week. but the president appears determined to continue the legal battle. today the president has been meeting with the japanese prime minister shinzo abe to discuss future trade between the countries. during a press conference after the meeting, president trump hinted at further policy announcements surrounding the travel ban. we are going to keep our country

safe, we a re we are going to keep our country safe, we are going to do whatever is necessary to keep the our country safe. we had a decision which we think we will be very successful with, it shouldn't have taken this much time because safety is one of the primary reasons i am standing here today, the security of our country, voters thought i would give the best security. you will be seeing something next week as regards the security of our country. ultimately i have no doubt that we will win that particular case. let's speak to laura trevelyan in washington. what are the president's options as regards the travel ban? the options are to return to the courts, he tweeted see you in court, and in that clip he said he intends to return to court. but does he go back to the federal appeals court, which ruled last night to keep the stay on

his travel ban, but that was just threejudges that ruled, his travel ban, but that was just three judges that ruled, he could extend it to all 11, or he could go to the us supreme court, they usually like to have a body of decision—making before they will look at the case. this is clearly hugely important to him that he wins this, he isjust three hugely important to him that he wins this, he is just three weeks hugely important to him that he wins this, he isjust three weeks into his presidency. having a muslim bank, as his aides described it, perhaps unhealthily for the court case, polls suggest it had a majority of support among the public. —— a muslim ban. majority of support among the public. -- a muslim ban. let's look at the meeting with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. was everybody terribly polite and overlooked the fa ct terribly polite and overlooked the fact that president trump had

criticised japan about how difficult it is to sell an american cars there? that is all in the past, that was candid at trump, this is president trump. the japanese were anxious about how unpredictable he is, but from the point of view of the japanese the press conference went well, they got an promise about an alliance. japan is the only country which has had a nuclear weapons used against it, the american president ordered it. since then there has been a security agreement in which the us has guaranteed japan's security. donald trump talked about how committed he was to that but also said the security alliance extends to areas underjapan‘s

security alliance extends to areas under japan's control, security alliance extends to areas underjapan‘s control, and that refers to the disputed islands in the east china sea, which the chinese and japanese both said belonged to them, and president cup has weighed in on the side of the japanese, something that the japanese, something that the japanese prime minister will be very pleased to have heard. this is about 6 million customers we are talking about and it is one of the most expensive tariffs on the

market. there is quite a lot of margin in it for them, to be able to extend that freeze. the fact that they are freezing it sounds good on they are freezing it sounds good on the surface but it might not be the best deal the people. the surface but it might not be the best dealthe people. certainly the surface but it might not be the best deal the people. certainly not the customers. you can protect yourself from the price rises happening now. why are people so loyal to one particular company? people often aren't aware of the savings available or aren't confident about making them. the energy market has come a long way and there are many ways you can switch, over the phone with support or online or with a mobile app. there is that help but the number of ta riffs there is that help but the number of tariffs available, it is baffling. if you had to tackle it yourself you would probably give up. why are the prices so varied? there are

different levies on different parts of suppliers. how good are the companies at telling all of us which their cheapest tariff is? they have an obligation set by the government to tell you what the cheapest tariff is of that type, but there was a big difference between the cheapest with that supplier and the cheapest in the market. it is really important that people get a whole market comparison and compare to see where they can save. once you have done one of those comparisons and switched and you have realised how easyis switched and you have realised how easy is is, you will do it again, but if you are wary of that change, perhaps not confident online, where is the face—to—face help, or on the

phone? i would urge people to get in contact with a price comparison site like uswitch but there are other places that can help like citizens advice. the london firm pimlico plumbers has lost a legal battle over whether it should give freelance workers basic employment rights such as pensions, holiday and sick pay. the company went to the court of appeal after a plumber on a self—employed contract, gary smith, won a tribunal case against them, as he argued he was entitled to the same rights as permanent staff. police in manchester say a man and a woman have died in a house fire in withington — four children are in hospital. the children, aged between 10 and 17, are being treated for their injuries. another man is in a serious condition. the government's handling of the arrival of unaccompanied

child refugees from europe is being challenged at the high court by campaigners. ministers have decided to end the scheme once 350 vulnerable children have been admitted. refugee campaigners were hoping up to 3,000 children would be admitted under the scheme. they have found extra bags. they we re they have found extra bags. they were tied by a rope to big green plastic containers to stop the class a drugs from sinking in the water. it is thought the experts have now found 360 kilos. if it was cut and sold on the streets it would be worth £50 million. the national crime agency says it is investigating why those drugs washed up. they don't think the intended destination was here, and they say this was a huge blow to the criminals involved. britain's entire fleet

of royal navy's attack submarines is currently out of operation due to repairs and maintenance work. seven nuclear—powered subs are classed as non operational, including three new astute class vessels. they are the most powerful attack submarines ever operated g— force anywhere in the world. normally, at least one is always at sea on active duty, but it's now emerged that none is currently deployed on operations. if none of them are operational, it is very serious. the submarines are needed for our security vis—a—vis russia, who at the moment is sabre rattling. they are good to ease tension because they are so capable, and the russians know that, and they can give us indicators and warnings. they are very important

in the middle east, around the persian gulf and areas like that. their intelligence capability is quite amazing. there are currently seven royal navy attack submarines in service, all nuclear—powered. four are ageing trafalgar—class boats that were designed in the 1980s. they are to be withdrawn from service from next year. the other three, the astute class, are the navy's latest attack submarines. four more are due to enter service by 2024. the bbc understands that the navy's struggling to maintain the trafalgar submarines, and the bigger astute class have suffered teething problems. 0ne submarine has been repaired after colliding with a merchant vessel off gibraltar last year. and hms astute is understood to be at sea, but only to conduct trials after being repaired. the ministry of defence said it would not comment on specific submarine operations, but said the royal navy continues to meet all of its operational tasking, deploying globally on operations, and protecting our national interests. an mod source insisted

that there were attack submarines that were operationally capable and ready, but where they might be was clearly sensitive operational information that the mod would not comment on. but not having one on active operations will raise fresh questions about the effectiveness of britain's naval fleet. james landale, bbc news. a cold, windy and sometimes wintry weekend awaits. yes, there will be some sleet and snow showers over the weekend. the cloud will be the real story, making it feel quite cold, any showers will be wintry, and the wind is coming from the north sea.

that will lower in plenty of showers along the further the macro east coast and further inland they will fall as sleet and snow. there will be accumulations at higher ground, a significant dusting by the early hours in some areas. here we will see some sunshine to the morning, the showers and —— turning increasingly to rain through the afternoon. top temperatures three to 6 degrees, feeling cold when you factor in the wind. not much change the sunday, a lot of cloud around, windy. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the investigation into the alleged abuse of iraqi civilians by british soldiers is to be closed within months after a report by mps branded it an "unmitigated failure". the health secretaryjeremy hunt concedes that the problems facing the nhs are completely unacceptable, but says there is a plan to help hospitals cope. bags of cocaine with a street value

of £50 million have been washed up on the norfolk coast. scottish power has raised its energy prices, but british gas says prices will freeze for its customers until august. more now on the pressures facing the nhs, which the bbc has been reporting on in depth throughout this week. the health secretaryjeremy hunt has conceded the nhs in england is facing "completely unacceptable" problems, and said there was no excuse for some of the delays suffered by patients, which were highlighted in the bbc‘s reports. mr hunt told our health editor hugh pym that the government has a plan, but it will take time to deliver. 0verall, there are positive things as well as negative things, and there is huge commitment in the nhs to sort out those negative things, and a particular pressure point we have is a&e, and what we need to do is find ways of treating particularly people with complex conditions, older people with dementia, treating them at home or in the community, and that is the big direction of change that we have embarked on.

but that is longer term. what we are seeing in hospitals right now, the scenes we have been showing on the bbc this week, real stress and strain, the figures out show performance targets are the worst since 2004, what can you do about it right now, shouldn't you be doing more? i think it is wrong to suggest to people but these profound challenges such as we face with an ageing population are ones where there is a silver bullet when you can solve the problem overnight. we have a very good plan, it has the support of the nhs. it will take time to deliver, but in terms of immediate support we are doing what we can with extra financial support to the nhs this year, more doctors, more nurses, but we also need to rally behind people in the nhs who are working very hard to try and sort out those problems, and we also need the public‘s help because we know a number of people seen in a&es could actually have their needs dealt with in another part of the nhs and we need to make sure

as far as we can we free up people in a&e departments to deal with the most vulnerable patients who have particular needs. there have been cuts to social care funding under your government, hasn't that created the problem we are now seeing? no. as i say, there are no excuses and it is completely unacceptable. what i would say is, on social care, the prime minister has been very clear, we recognise the pressure's there, we the pressures there, we recognise there is a problem about the sustainability of the social care system, that has to be addressed. more money in the budget? that is for the chancellor and the prime minister. look at what the prime minister said this week, this is an area where there is pressure and if we are going to have a solution, it has to be a long—term sustainable solution and not a quick fix. secretary of state, thank you very much. now, infectious diseases are no longer seen as a significant threat,

and heart attacks don't claim lives in the numbers they once did. even cancer is not the death sentence it once was — half of people now survive for a decade or more. but this progress has come at a cost — people are living longer, and with a growing number of long—term chronic conditions, including diabetes and dementia. this means that the average 65 year—old patient costs the nhs two and a half times more than the average 30 year—old. meanwhile, an 85 year—old costs more than five times as much. as older people go on to make up a larger percentage of our population, so the cost of caring for them continues to rise. and the cost of new drugs is increasing all the time. well we can speak now to dr eileen burns, who's president of the british geriatric society. she joins us live from our studio in leeds. thank you forjoining us. we heard

jeremy hunt saying, we know it is unacceptable, the pressures on the nhs, we have got a unacceptable, the pressures on the nhs, we have gota plan, he did not give much away, but how encouraged are you? we have to wait and see what the government's plan is. i have to disagree with the secretary of state in his assertion that the cuts to social care funding are not responsible in large part, or the situation we are in now because i think it is the single thing that causes the most problems in trying to deal with the demands in a&e at the moment. the pressure you are saying is down to a lack of money or the ageing population we have in this country? the two things go hand—in—hand. most would agree that living longer is something for us to celebrate, but as he pointed out, it doesn't actually mean that. it produces extra costs on health and social care. we need to think about

how we manage the problems of old age differently. i would agree with jeremy hunt, that is something we need to deal with and we do need to develop services to actually meet the needs of an old person who perhaps has had a fall, or who has become delirious in a different way than necessarily always needing acute hospital admission. but that isn't the whole story. 0lder acute hospital admission. but that isn't the whole story. older people will need acute hospital admission at times and it is how we manage the consequences of that admission that makes the difference. the increase of people trapped in hospital waiting to be discharged is substantial, people waiting to social care, so we need to invest in social care, so we need to invest in social care. we are seeing significant numbers of people waiting in hospital or intermediate care, which is a facility to allow older people to recover properly from an acute illness so they can recover the highest level of

independence. that service is underfunded as well. let's pretend we can give you an extra 10% in your budget, what would you spend it on? i would divide it equally between social care and intermediate care. that would make the most impact. it would be nice to say i would spend it on more nurses or doctors, but we are not training enough nurses or doctors, so we don't have the resources there at the moment, even if the funding were made available. we have to think carefully on how we fund training of doctors and nurses in the future. how we influence them to go into specialist teams, where we need them to be, like primary care, we need them to be, like primary ca re, ca re we need them to be, like primary care, care of older people. in terms of where i would spend money here and now, iwould of where i would spend money here and now, i would spend it on social ca re and now, i would spend it on social care and intermediate care. how difficult are the choices in hospital, you have young person who

can be treated relatively cheaply and an older person, to no fault of their own, but his care will cost five times more? it is not a choice asa five times more? it is not a choice as a civilised society, we should be making. but do you have to make it? we need to look at how we can spend money most effectively. there are ways we can spend money on older people in a more cost—effective way. asi people in a more cost—effective way. as i said, we can look at how we manage the problems of some older people in the community. there are pockets of good practice being developed around the country, but we need to think about how we can make those services much more widely available. so i think, it is not so much saying, let's hit the old against the young and vice versa, it is saying that as a civilised society, we should be providing the right quality of care to everyone. that means we look at the individual‘s needs and meet them in

the most cost—effective way. most frail, older people don't want to be in hospital, they value a service that will support them to be in their own home, that is where most of us want to be. it is a big question, but if you could be brief, i would be grateful, successive governments have failed to grasp the nettle on what we do about an ageing population, what would your solution be? we need to think carefully about identifying, with an older person, exactly what they want. in most cases, they don't ask for expensive and exotic treatments. they ask for ca re and exotic treatments. they ask for care and support. i think it needs to be delivered as native home as possible, we need to have smooth pathways into hospital when an older person is acutely ill, but crucially, smooth pathway is back out again. thank you very much for your time. thank you. many households in england and wales could see an increase

in their council tax in april, according to new research. the local government information unit says that 94% of council leaders and officials who responded to their survey said they will be forced to put up the tax, and increase charging for services. some households could face a rise of almost 5%, well above inflation. 0ur correspondent judith moritz reports. from rubbish collections to road resurfacing, local councils are responsible for the nitty—gritty of community life. the pressure their finances are under is well known, so it is not surprising that the majority of them want to take measures to bring in more money, but now some councils are warning that things are so desperate, they simply cannot make ends meet. we are really at a crisis point now. councils have already cut all the nice to have things and they are down to the bare bones, the statutory services they have to deliver, adult social care, looking after elderly people, protecting vulnerable children, keeping the streets clean, and collecting refuse. there is a real chance in the next two to three years we will see councils not able to meet those

obligations, and that would be a tragedy for the communities they serve. a survey of local councils in england and wales was carried out. i3i responded and 94% of them say they will be forced to increase council tax by more than 1.5% next year, 42% say the cuts they make will be evident to the public, and 80% say they will add an extra charge for social care. in salford the authority is considering raising its council tax next year, together with its charge for social care, by a total ofjust under 5%. lisa stone has been a salford councillor for six years and says it is becoming impossible to balance the books. we were able to freeze council tax for six years, but we had to put it up last year and will be looking to put it up again this year unfortunately. do you remember things being as bad? no, this is the worst it's ever been because every year you have to make

more cuts on top of those you've made in previous years. five councils, not named, planned to go to the polls to increase bills significantly, but have decided not to after a 15% rise was controversially dropped by surrey council this week. but all of the councils surveyed had one thing in common —