County Council U-turn on Youth Service
County Councillor Colin Taylor and Surrey Lib Dems have welcomed the lifting of the county's freeze on Youth Service recruitment.
County Councillor Colin Taylor and Surrey Lib Dems have welcomed the lifting of the county's freeze on Youth Service recruitment.
Cllr Alison Kelly has criticised plans to spend £450,000 on an alleyway leading from the Town Hall car park to Epsom High Street.
The new teenage recreation area in Alexandra Recreation Ground was declared "open" on 10th April and the Mayor presented with a cheque for £65,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.
Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrats' campaign to make Epsom and Ewell a plastic bag free borough gathered momentum on Sunday 6th April. Despite appalling weather conditions, nearly 1000 leaflets were handed out to shoppers in Epsom Market Place while the Farmers' Market was in full swing.
Lib Dems at Surrey County Council opposed the ruling Conservative administration's 4.8% rise in council tax and condemned a cut in roads and schools maintenance spending.
Epsom & Ewell's Lib Dem councillors have honoured the pledge in their election manifesto not to support council "freebies".
The Liberal Democrat Group on Surrey County Council has called for greater clarity from the Conservative-run Executive after the Council announced its proposed plans to close 18 youth centres county-wide were being "revised". The Lib Dems had been opposed to the closures ever since they were first proposed in the Business Delivery Review, designed to cut £50 million from the Council's budget. Together with voluntary and community groups, the Lib Dems have been urging the Council to rethink the proposals.
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, Cllr Hazel Watson, has welcomed the abandonment of plans to close four libraries in Surrey. She said: "I am pleased that proposals to close the libraries in Hersham, Caterham Hill, Ewell Court and New Haw are to be abandoned. However, it is regrettable that the libraries in Bagshot and Virginia Water are still under threat."
Head Teachers and educationalists were appalled by Surrey County Council's intention to remove 14 posts and make all four Surrey Local Education Officer teams redundant as part of the Business Delivery Review.
The Liberal Democrat Group on Surrey County Council is calling on the Conservative-run Executive to reconsider its plans to close six of Surrey's libraries. Diana Smith, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Schools and Communities, said that over the years a lack of investment by the Tories in one of the county's key resources had left it unable to grow to meet modern needs, with the number of people using libraries falling. "In an increasingly 24 hour society it's no wonder people aren't using the libraries, when opening hours are so limited. And when they get there, often the choice of books is restricted and there isn't room for the range of computers that a modern information centre needs."
Conservative-run Surrey County Council today refused to maintain current funding to the county's voluntary sector, choosing instead to oppose a Liberal Democrat motion which had called for an end to the proposed £838,000 cut in funding. Fiona White, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Adults and Community Care, said after the meeting that the Tory amendment to the motion was "woolly" and had no funding substance to it on which the voluntary organisations could rely.
This Motion to Council is not an attempt to ignore the financial situation in which we find ourselves. Rather, it is a recognition of that situation and the need to get the best possible returns for the investment of the Council's money. Let me ask councillors a question. What sort of return do you think we get for every one pound given in grant to a voluntary organisation? Is it three pounds, six pounds, ten pounds? The information which I have gleaned leads me to believe that it is ten pounds or above; if so, the effect of the cuts will be more than £8 million in service provision. I think that any business would be delighted to have such a return on their investment and within a very short space of time.