My Lib Dem colleagues and I are very concerned that Surrey County Council has not spent any of the income derived from its £298 million commercial property portfolio on Council services. Previously, the Conservative Cabinet Member for Property and Business Services stated that: “We also have an additional need to generate an income from our […]

I am very concerned that proposed changes to the arrangements for drug and alcohol detoxification will make it more difficult for those trying to beat addiction.  Surrey County Council is currently consulting on proposals that include the closure of the in-patient facility at Windmill House at St Peter’s Hospital, leaving only one in-patient bed for […]

Surrey County Council recently admitted that it would take over three quarters of a billion pounds to repair the Surrey’s roads and footways to an “as new” standard.  At the current rate of spending, it would take the Conservative-run County Council almost 50 years to complete this work. The fact that Surrey’s roads and footways […]

My Lib Dem colleagues at County Hall and I are celebrating after a package of measures to support care leavers was adopted by Surrey County Council earlier this week. As part of a new Charter unanimously agreed by the County Council, young care leavers will be exempted from Council Tax, as well as given support […]

I have submitted a motion to next week’s Full Surrey County Council meeting calling for care leavers to be exempted from paying Council Tax until they are 25. The campaign was initiated elsewhere in the country by highly respected charity The Children’s Society.  I successfully campaigned for this policy to be adopted by Woking Borough […]

My Lib Dem colleagues and I have recently raised concern over the future of Children’s Centres in Surrey.  Currently there are 58 centres across the county, providing services such as childcare, play and learning sessions, parenting courses, employment support and information and guidance for low-income families – but Surrey County Council is currently consulting on […]

The Conservatives running Surrey County Council have proposed up to six new incinerators as part of the Council’s draft new waste plan including one on Martyrs Lane in Woking and another at Slyfield in Guildford. The Surrey Waste Plan, proposes up to six new incinerators or ‘Energy from Waste’ plants – all on Green Belt […]

The former Conservative Leader of Surrey County Council, Andrew Povey, yesterday went on BBC Surrey Radio and attacked David Hodge, current Tory Leader of the Council.  You can listen to the radio interview, starting at 2:07:35, here. I am pleased that Councillor Povey agrees with what the Lib Dems and I have been saying about […]

My Lib Dem colleagues at County Hall and I have criticised Surrey’s 11 Conservative MPs after they all voted in favour of the Local Government Finance Settlement in the House of Commons on Wednesday 7th February. The Settlement sets out the level of funding from Central Government to local authorities for the next financial year […]

Young people leaving care in Woking will soon be exempt from paying Council Tax until their 25th birthday following Woking Borough Council’s unanimous decision to back my motion on the subject. I was delighted that during last night’s Full Council, all Councillors agreed to support my call to help Woking’s section of the 730 young care […]