http://surreylibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Surrey County Council Liberal Democrats en-GB Surrey County Council Liberal Democrats http://surreylibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Surrey County Council Liberal Democrats 2008-07-23T20:20+01:00 United Kingdom http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000150/lib_dems_slam_shocking_report_on_services_for_vulnerable_children.html The Lib Dem group have called on the Leader of Surrey County Council to resign following the publication of a damning report on services for vulnerable children in the County. 2008-07-22T23:54+01:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000149/lukewarm_tory_support_for_local_committees.html This week Surrey County Council debated its 2007 Community Survey, which reveals that: 2008-06-18T15:53+01:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000148/lib_dems_call_for_increase_in_public_participation_at_surrey_county_council.html Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council (SCC) today called for more opportunities for the pubic to get involved in local democracy, but the suggestions were opposed by the ruling Conservative administration. 2008-06-17T14:49+01:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000147/tories_respond_to_lib_dem_campaign_to_repair_roads.html The Tory controlled County Council has responded to the Liberal Democrat campaign to improve the condition of Surrey's roads by allocating funding for road maintenance and financing a two-year programme worth £35.4 million. This follows their failure to spend all their own Highways budget over the last five years. 2008-05-19T23:58+01:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000146/surrey_liberal_democrats_stand_firm_on_countys_waste_plan.html Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council have maintained their strong opposition to the Surrey Waste Plan (SWP), voting against a recommendation to adopt it when it came before the council at its Annual Meeting. The council was being asked to agree to its adoption following a report published by Government inspectors into the public examination of the Plan at the end of 2007. This report declared the plan to be 'sound' but Cllr Sarah Di Caprio, Lib Dem group Environment spokesperson, said the inspectors had pointed to various shortcomings in the plan and they suggested calling for an early review. 2008-05-07T15:14+01:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000145/youth_service_uturn_after_sustained_lib_dem_pressure.html Surrey Liberal Democrats have welcomed the lifting of the County's freeze on Youth Service recruitment, highlighted in recent months by County Councillor Diana Smith Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Schools and Learning. 2008-03-14T16:23+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000144/school_admissions_update.html The schools admission process is a long haul for parents, with applications made in the autumn and places only now being offered for this coming September, 2008. At the same time Surrey County Council has been going through the equally long process of deciding how school places will be allocated for September 2009. 2008-03-14T16:19+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000143/lib_dems_urge_longer_term_funding_commitment_for_selfreliance.html Surrey Liberal Democrats have called upon Surrey County Council to maintain funding for its work devoted to building stronger communities in disadvantaged areas of Surrey, the so-called Self-Reliance Projects. 2008-03-04T20:52+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000142/tory_budget_is_bad_news_for_surrey_residents.html Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council today opposed the ruling Conservative administration's 4.8% rise in Council Tax and condemned a cut in roads and schools maintenance spending. Highlighting her group's alternative proposals, Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Hazel Watson (Dorking Hills), said it would be possible to limit the Council Tax rise to 4.5%, a saving of £1.5m. 2008-02-05T23:32+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000141/lib_dems_challenge_tories_to_support_in_or_out_referendum.html The Liberal Democrat Group recently tried to get the majority Conservative group on Surrey County Council to back the campaign for an "in or out" Euro referendum. The Lib Dems say this referendum would be an opportunity for the British public to determine whether Britain should continue to be a member of the European Union or not. 2008-02-04T14:57+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000140/lib_dems_lead_fight_against_heathrow_expansion.html At the recent Council meeting, Liberal Democrats proposed a motion that Surrey County Council should come out against further expansion of Heathrow. 2008-02-02T14:30+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000139/surrey_roads_budget_underspent_for_the_fifth_year_running.html In answer to a question from John Doran, Lib Dem transport spokesperson, the Conservative executive member for transport on Surrey County Council admitted that the council was on target to under-spend its roads budget by nearly £1 million pounds. Mr Munro said "£1 million is about right". 2008-02-02T14:06+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000138/youth_service_staff_freeze_remains_at_surrey_county_council.html Tory-led Surrey County Council voted today to keep the freeze on youth service recruitment, despite the obvious damage it is causing to youth services throughout Surrey. Liberal Democrat Councillor Diana Smith (Knaphill) put forward a motion calling for an immediate end to the recruitment freeze, put in place in December 2007. But the ruling Tory group voted to keep the status quo. 2008-01-23T23:34+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000137/school_admissions.html The 'equal preference' system for school admissions was first used for admissions to Surrey schools this year, September 2007. It means that parents don't have to worry that they will lose a place in the second or third of their preferred schools if the first school is full, just because they did not place those schools first. 2007-12-18T14:21+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000136/emergency_planning_department_fiasco.html When the Conservative administration at County Hall took an axe to its Emergency Planning department as part of a major review, the 11 staff were reduced to just 7 - putting the whole county at risk. All the staff bar one left, leaving the county in an extraordinarily vulnerable state for several months, made worse because a freeze in recruitment blocked the advertising for new staff. 2007-12-18T14:13+00:00