Ofsted has today published a letter summarising the findings of the recent monitoring visit to Surrey County Council’s children’s services – this is the eighth monitoring visit since the County Council was inspected in 2014 and found to be inadequate in Ofsted report published in 2015. In the latest monitoring visit, Ofsted inspectors noted recent […]

Lib Dem Councillors have criticised the Conservatives running Surrey County Council for recruiting a £55,000 ‘Head of Strategy’ post when at the same time planning staff redundancies and cutting services by millions of pounds. The job advert, which has been posted extensively online and in the national press, seeks to recruit a ‘highly politically astute’ […]

My Lib Dem colleagues and I have expressed concern after it was revealed that 6 care homes in Surrey are rated as ‘Unsafe’ by the Care Quality Commission and have contracts with Surrey County Council. The County Council recently stated that it does not send new residents to care homes that have received the poor rating, […]

A mock estate agency called “Theresa May and Co” has been launched by the Lib Dems today attacking Theresa May’s Dementia Tax. The Conservative policy would force the sale of family homes to fund care for elderly and vulnerable relatives.  It is estimated that the Dementia Tax would cost £173,282 for someone receiving ten years […]

100% of homes in Woking could be eligible for sale to meet Theresa May’s so-called ‘dementia tax’ – and as I wrote the other day, the average Surrey household could be forced to pay £337,726 for their social care if they suffer from dementia. That is why the Lib Dems and I have urged residents, irrespective […]

My Lib Dem colleagues at County Hall and I have welcomed the news that the Conservative administration on Surrey County Council has finally agreed to scrap the 4 Cabinet Associate posts which have so far cost the taxpayer nearly two hundred thousand pounds since they were introduced. The Lib Dems have consistently called for these posts […]

The Lib Dems have announced we would plug funding gaps for the NHS and social care by putting a penny on income tax, in our first major manifesto commitment of the General Election campaign. The tax would raise an additional £124.7 million for Surrey, with £76 million for the NHS and £48.7 million for social care […]

I was delighted to have been re-elected as South Woking’s County Councillor on 4th May – I want to say a big thank you to all the voters of South Woking for continuing to place their faith in me and sending me back to County Hall with an increased majority. I received 2271 votes (54%) […]

My Lib Dem colleagues and I have strongly criticised Surrey County Council’s plans to axe millions from essential services for local residents. Highway and road safety and budgets will be hit as millions of pounds are taken away from essential Council services, and there will be a £735,000 reduction in the public transport budget as […]

Following the Lib Dems submitting a motion of no confidence in David Hodge, Leader of the Council at County Hall, he has resigned – but as Leader of the Conservatives on the Local Government Association. It has become clear that Tories in other local authorities have lost faith in David Hodge, but Conservatives on Surrey […]