Lib Dem Councillor delighted as Daily Mail begins "Bag Free" Campaign
With a formal "Motion" to the council already on the table (see earlier News Story) a campaign by the Daily Mail is now underway.
2 Mar 2008
News
Epsom and Ewell News
County Hall Fiasco
When the Conservative administration at Surrey County Council took an axe to its Emergency Planning Department (as part of a major review), the 11 staff were reduced to just 7, but it gets worse ...
22 Feb 2008
Budget Response from Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrats
Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Jonathan Lees, has issued the following press statement against the borough council's increase in council tax of 4.5%.
22 Feb 2008
Borough heading for Christmas Lights and Decorations!
For years Epsom has had arguably the worst display of Christmas decorations and lights in Surrey. At last this looks set to change.
15 Feb 2008
Councillors Deserve More Say on how the Council Spends Money
Every four years Epsom & Ewell Borough Council spends about £10m on different projects : this is known as the 4-year Capital Programme. The budget is apportioned annually against projects considered necessary or appropriate for that year.
14 Feb 2008
Lib Dems want a "Plastic Bag Free" borough
Epsom's Lib Dem group of councillors have put a Motion to the council meeting on 19th February which calls for support to retailers, businesses and commercial manufacturers to eliminate excessive packaging, in particular the widespread use of plastic bags.
14 Feb 2008
Surrey County Council News
Willie makes it 63
Willie Rennie's election as the new MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, home of chancellor Gordon Brown, takes the total of Liberal Democrat in the House of Commons to 63. His by-election victory not only saw a 16% swing from New Labour to the Liberal Democrats, it also saw David Cameron's Conservatives retain fourth place with a swing of 9% from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats.
10 Feb 2006
Parents Pockets Hit Again
Surrey County Council's Tory budget brought bad news for parents and youngsters in Sixth Forms and Colleges.
7 Feb 2006
Liberal Democrats oppose Conservative budget
At the County Council meeting today, the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council opposed the 2006/07 budget proposed by the Conservative administration.
7 Feb 2006
Eighteen youth centres face Tory axe
After an initial period of close secrecy, the names of 18 youth centres in Surrey planned for closure following the Tories' BDR review have been released. This had earlier been presented as 15 closures, apparently because 3 new facilities are also planned. Councillors representing the divisions affected by the closures have been offered a meeting where the reasons behind these decisions will be explained. Meanwhile the names of the 18 youth facilities at risk are:
3 Feb 2006
A Wasted Opportunity?
The issue of waste remains high on the agenda in Surrey, with not one but two draft waste plans up for discussion. The first, which ended its 6 week period of public consultation in December 2005, comes from the position of Surrey County Council (SCC) as the Waste Planning Authority (WPA) and is called "The Surrey Waste Plan - The Preferred Plan". This basically sets out the County's overall strategy of where and how waste should be handled, giving site specific details. The Liberal Democrats at County Hall criticised this plan as being fundamentally flawed, back in September, because it was predicated on incineration and highlighted a preferred site, Capel. We are still awaiting the results of the public consultation.
3 Feb 2006
Surrey's roads set to get worse
Surrey County Council has outsourced its highways maintenance to two contractors, one for the west and one for the east. Since its start 3 years ago the management of this Tory-inspired arrangement has been heavily criticised, with work not being done on time or to budget. Lib Dems are seeking to ensure that these issues are addressed by beefing up the management of the contract and ensuring that its performance indicator criteria deliver on-time and on-budget results. We are very concerned that yet another Tory reorganisation of the transportation service (proposed in the Business Delivery Review) will damage the county's ability to manage the contractors. Also proposed in the BDR is a cut in the maintenance budget to spend more on capital. In the short term (5 years) that will mean worse roads in Surrey!
2 Feb 2006