The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Government's decision on Gurkha settlement rights is as another huge betrayal of the Gurkhas who have served our country. Gurkha campaigners are sickened by the Government's new policy of extending automatic citizenship rights to those who served 20 years. The normal period of service for the majority of Gurkhas was 15 years.
After scores of complaints about the new tenancy agreement for allotments, the borough council has officially apologised for the mix up and agreed that the new agreement doesn't need to be signed for 2009.
At the eleventh hour and for no specific reason, the council has decided to postpone the Public Meeting arranged for 29th April. Lib Dem councillors did not agree with the decision.
When Horton Chapel and Horton Water Tower were saved from demolition during the building of the Livingstone Park estate in Epsom, local residents were consulted about its future. That first meeting was held five years ago!
An end to discrimination against users of Guide Dogs and Hearing Dogs has drawn closer following a key vote in the European Parliament. Guide Dogs for blind people and Hearing Dogs for deaf people are included in an umbrella term "Assistance Dogs" covering dogs trained to help people with a variety of disabilities.
Surrey Police have cut costs and red tape, to put more PCs back on the streets. However their government grant is less than half the national average, so despite cutting 144 administrative jobs, they needed to raise their share of council tax by 4.9%. The Labour government has threatened to "cap" them, which would entail the loss of another 80 staff, including front line PCs.
The Care Quality Commission, the government agency in charge of assessing the quality of care available to vulnerable people, has rated the care services provided by Surrey County Council as "adequate" - the lowest rating awarded to Adult Services this year, shared only by another seven Councils in the country. According to their report, Surrey is still in need of special measures and the Council will be closely monitored by the Government to make sure services improve.
Surrey Highways are currently not repairing street lights except in the most urgent cases. A new PFI street lighting contract is expected to start early next year, which will involve replacing 80% of the existing lamp columns, so they are not spending money on repairing columns that will be replaced.
The Conservative Cabinet at County Hall have refused to reconsider their decision to axe the Pegasus school buses as from July 2010. The Tory administration is reneging on a decision made only last December 2008 to continue the service for at least two more years until July 2011. The Conservatives do one thing before the election and another thing after.
Due to the pressure and the thorough examination of Liberal Democrat councillor David Goodwin, Surrey County Council Transport Select Committee have forced the Council's Cabinet to reconsider their decision to axe the popular Pegasus school bus service and to proceed instead with a proper investigation to find out how it can be maintained in future for the benefit of Guildford children and parents.
Dave Hodgson (Lib Dem) has won the public vote to become the new directly-elected mayor of Bedford.
The Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have called for urgent action to resolve the problems identified in the report of the former Interim Chief Executive Mr. Michael Frater. This report described the Council's problems as a 'whole system failure'.
