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 persistence of the European Liberal Democrat MEPs has paid off. They have secured a pledge that the EU will seek to harmonise mobile chargers. The aim is to reduce costs for European consumers currently obliged to replace chargers which still work, and to cut the enormous quantity of waste generated.
At a recent meeting of the Strategy & Resources Committee the borough council's annual Audit Commission letter for 2007/8 was found to contain factual inaccuracies but at least it was acknowledged that on recycling the council has "moved out of the worst 25% of councils"!
The importance of a coordinated cross border strategy against overseas credit card fraud has been highlighted by Sharon Bowles MEP following the recent rise in credit card and debit card data being sold overseas.
Cllr Colin Taylor has confirmed that 39 new allotments were let by the borough council last week after a Lib Dem campaign to publicise the long waiting list and the shortage of sites.
Despite massive public support for the Surrey Police, the government has won a vote in parliament confirming a spending "cap" that will force the police to shed a further 48 jobs, including 31 front line police officers. Astonishingly, although some Surrey MPs spoke against this move, when it came to a vote not a single Conservative voted against it. That was left to the Liberal Democrats, supported by two rebel Labour MPs and one DUP member from Northern Ireland.
Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council have called for improvements in the way the County Council plans and prepares its budget. They criticised the Conservative administration for its unrealistic and short-term approach to budget setting, which has resulted in some council services underspending - whilst others overspend their budgets, year after year.
The Liberal Democrats have gained seats in Reigate, Spelthorne, Tandridge and Woking, despite losses in Godalming and Guildford. The new Lib Dem group will number 13 and the Lib Dems will remain the main opposition party on Surrey County Council.
"Support the Lib Dems next Thursday", says The Observer. As well as its Editorial, an article by Andrew Rawnsley praises Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats in the run-up to the elections for the European Parliament and the County Council as the one party that has consistently advocated Constitutional Reform and the one that has come out of the expenses scandal much less sleazed than either Labour or the Tories.
Over the last four years, the Tories running Surrey County Council have provided poor services for residents, wasted millions of pounds of Council Taxpayers money and produced continual spin claiming that the council is "outstanding" when plainly it is not. The outcome of this sorry state of affairs is the demotion of the Council by the Audit Commission from a 4 Star council in 2005 to a 1 Star council in 2008.
Intriguing information about Europe - and what it does for us.
