Surrey CC has announced it is on track to beat government efficiency targets by more than £19m. The council said last week that it expected to exceed the £40m efficiency target by the end of 2008, which was set by the Government, and save a total of £59m instead. Some of the savings will go back into other services, including £7m on road maintenance, and £2.7m into social care to recruit more than 100 new social workers. ‘With the recent decline in government money to the area, our priority for the past two years has been ensuring the council is fit for purpose, slick and efficient,' said Surrey CC leader, Nick Skellett. ‘Getting here has, at times, been extremely difficult,' he added. ‘As part of our recent restructure, we've had to reduce staff numbers and rework many of our processes to ensure services remain operational while changes have been made. ‘There have been doubters along the way, but this report shows that we have done the right thing. ‘Without that work, we would have saved around £20m, and been looking at bridging a gap of £40m in cuts or council tax.'