Schools across Surrey are set to lose £1.1 million in funding for the most disadvantaged pupils in the county following the Government’s decision to alter the method of calculating pupil premium funding. The pupil premium, which aims to close the attainment gap by providing extra money to pupils eligible for free school meals, was a […]

Yesterday, the Lib Dem Group on Surrey County Council elected me as their new Group Leader. I am delighted to have been chosen by fellow Councillors to lead the Lib Dems in Surrey – especially after we had a great set of election results. The Lib Dems gained 5 seats on County Council in the […]

Last week, the news broke that the verdict of Ofsted’s most recent monitoring visit to Surrey County Council’s Children’s Services would not be published until after the election on Thursday 6th May. The explanation for this from the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills is that “it is normal practice to delay […]

The Lib Dems have called for an ambitious package of £48 billion for local authorities to tackle the climate emergency, of which an extra £140 million would be invested directly in the local community here in Surrey. This new funding would go directly to Surrey County Council to fund green infrastructure, and improve the local […]

The Lib Dems and I are calling on Woking Borough Council to improve its parks and open spaces as more people have been using them during the pandemic. With the coronavirus restrictions encouraging people to stay local, residents are spending a lot more time in the Borough’s green spaces. However, Woking’s parks and open spaces […]

The Lib Dems and I have slammed the Conservative Government’s insulting 1% pay offer to nurses. In our country’s hour of need, our NHS nurses and doctors have been there for us.  A decent pay rise is the least we can do for them in return. Boris Johnson was happy to stand outside Number 10 and […]

An estimated 1,647 care home residents – 17% of Surrey’s care home population – have tested positive for coronavirus since the Government lifted the last national lockdown on 2nd December 2020. This distressing information came in response to a question from the Lib Dem team and I at the County Council’s Adults and Health Select […]

A second localised ‘surge testing’ programme in Woking and the third operation in Surrey will get underway this week – in Maybury and surrounding areas after the identification of a case of the South African variant of coronavirus. Test kits will be distributed door to door by staff and volunteers from Thursday.  A map of the […]

Woking’s coronavirus ‘surge testing’ operation is now in its third day, and more than 74% of residents contacted have returned a testing kit, with results already being issued. 5,029 kits were delivered by the end of Wednesday, with more than half of the selected households visited, and 3,761 test kits had been collected. It is […]

Earlier today, it was announced that a localised ‘surge testing’ programme will be rolled out in parts of Goldsworth Park, Knaphill and St John’s following the identification of a specific variant of coronavirus. Residents within the affected area – as shown on this map – will be visited, with the request that they carry out […]