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) 2010 Surrey County Council Liberal Democrats 2010-03-09T22:29+00:00 United Kingdom http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000228/surrey_police_plans_for_more_bobbies_on_the_beat.html The Surrey Police Authority is to hold a widespread public consultation on their plans to expand their force by about 200 new constables over the next 3 years, paid for by cutting about 50 senior officers and relocating Police Stations to council offices and supermarkets. About 100 of the new officers would join the neighbourhood police teams of "Bobbies on the Beat". This initiative has been supported by the Lib Dem members of the Surrey Police Authority. 2010-03-08T08:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000227/cfrs_help_to_save_lives.html Community First Responders (CFR's) are volunteers who respond to emergency calls on behalf of South East Coast Ambulance Service. Would you like to make a real difference? 2010-03-01T13:19+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000226/south_east_mep_sharon_bowles_welcomes_step_in_the_right_direction_on_ending_cruelty_to_horses.html Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles has welcomed the European Parliament's adoption of a written declaration outlining steps to end cruelty to horses. 2010-02-19T11:08+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000225/localism__not_a_good_start.html The new Conservative administration, following David Cameron's lead, has now proudly proclaimed a conversion to "localism" (the devolution of decision making to the lowest level) which is a complete reversal of the policies of the last Conservative government. However the first test of the new approach revealed that not much had changed. 2010-02-15T08:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000224/grit_bin_fiasco.html Throughout Surrey there was a failure to fill and top-up grit bins during the periods of heavy snow in December and January resulting in many justified complaints from residents. Just how chaotic the situation was has been revealed following questions from County Cllr Stephen Cooksey. 2010-02-13T08:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000223/lib_dems_oppose_damaging_county_council_budget.html The Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have voted against the Tory administration's budget for 2010/11 at County Hall. Leader of the Liberal Democrats Cllr Hazel Watson said: "I support the 2.5% level of Council Tax increase proposed for the Council. Many Surrey residents are struggling to pay their bills during the economic downturn and therefore the Council Tax needs to be set as low as possible whilst allowing for adequate funding for services. I oppose, however, the content of the budget proposed by the Conservative administration as it does the opposite of what Surrey residents want." 2010-02-12T08:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000222/lib_dems_hold_balance_of_power_in_european_parliament.html An independent analysis of the EU has revealed that the ALDE, the Lib Dem group of MEPs, holds the balance of power in the European Parliament. 2010-02-08T11:20+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000221/liberal_democrats_pledge__25m_extra_for_surrey_schools.html The Liberal Democrats have announced a major funding commitment that would boost education in Surrey. Nick Clegg has given a Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment for a Pupil Premium that would mean investing around £ 25m of extra cash in Surrey schools, raising the funding for disadvantaged pupils to private school levels. 2010-02-03T16:06+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000219/help_for_young_people.html Do you know a young man or woman who has recently left college or university and finds they can't get job? 2010-01-22T14:23+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000218/mandelson_forcing_universities_to_lower_standards_and_offer_less_choice.html Commenting on Government plans to cut university funding by more than £500m, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Universities Secretary Stephen Williams said: "The Government failed to live up to its commitment to fund extra university places and now it seems to be punishing the universities that went out of their way to help the pupils that had been let down." 2010-01-02T06:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000217/surrey_police_seven_point_plan.html The Surrey Police Authority has recently approved a seven point plan for Surrey Police in order to address their anticipated funding shortfall over the next three years to increase front-line police officers and further improve policing. This initiative has been supported by the Lib Dem members of the Police Authority. 2010-01-01T06:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000216/copenhagen_comedown.html Lib Dem Euro MP for the South East, Catherine Bearder, has expressed her huge disappointment at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen. 2009-12-30T06:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000215/south_east_mep_sharon_bowles_calls_for_eurostar_overhaul.html Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles has called for an overhaul of Eurostar following weekend failures of its service which left thousands of passengers trapped in the Channel Tunnel and up to 60,000 people stranded. Sharon Bowles said: "Having seen the distress of people who were trapped in the Channel Tunnel over the weekend, some for up to seven hours, it is imperative that Eurostar gets its act together." 2009-12-26T12:45+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000214/liberal_democrats_oppose_county_council_cuts_in_services.html Liberal Democrat County Councillors have voiced their strong opposition to cuts in services by the Conservative administration. The Conservative run Cabinet has this Autumn decided to terminate all Pegasus school bus services in July 2010, to reduce the ordinary public bus services and reduce the number of roads to be gritted in winter in advance of ice and snow. 2009-12-15T17:00+00:00 http://surreylibdems.org.uk/news/000213/liberal_democrats_welcome_tory_uturn_on_incineration.html For many years the Liberal Democrats have been arguing that there are better and safer modern green alternatives to mass burn incineration. The announcement by the Tories that they will abandon "energy from waste" (mass burn incineration) has finally recognised that the Lib Dem position has been correct all long. Apart from the environmental impact, mass burn incineration is known to discourage councils from recycling waste. 2009-12-15T16:30+00:00