Cuts in Surrey County Council services opposed.
As well as Libraries and Youth Clubs, other Surrey County Council services threatened by the Tory BDR proposals include the Surrey History Centre, where the reduction in funding may seriously affect the quality of the service, and Surrey County Arts, which currently provides 278,000 music lessons annually. Proposals include increased tuition fees, even though tuition fees in Surrey are already 30% higher than the national average whereas some 42% of local authorities do not charge any tuition fees.
Responding to the concerns of local residents, the Epsom & Ewell Local Committee, in addition to their motions about Libraries and Youth Clubs, agreed further motions:
- deprecating the proposed budget reductions for the Surrey History Service and asking the Executive to note the importance of the Surrey History Service and consider revising the levels of cuts proposed,
- asking the Executive to ensure that the proposed increase in charges for music lessons do not have a detrimental effect upon the take up of music lessons.
Cllr Colin Taylor proposed the second of these motions, which was seconded by the mayor and proposed the second one, which was proposed by the chairman.