Figures published by Surrey County Council and available on the Surrey-I website have revealed a huge rise in the cost of senior officer pay in just 12 months.

The information published by the authority in accordance with the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 has revealed that the number of its officers earning over £50,000 has increased from 407 in 2018/19 to 558 in 2019/20. The number of those being paid between £50,000 - 54,999 has increased from 127 to 212. A greater increase is seen in the £60,000 - £64,999 pay bracket where the number of officers has jumped from 49 to 154. In total the pay bill for all senior employees has risen by around £10m.

Following a request from the Lib Dems, Surrey County Council will start a phased reopening of its Community Recycling Centres on 11th May.

With fly tipping increasingly becoming an issue across Surrey, last month Lib Dem Councillors asked the Council to reopen local tips. This was supported by latest Government advice which said that Household Waste Recycling Centres can be open provided appropriate social distancing measures are in place.

Surrey County Council has cancelled plans to move its headquarters from Kingston-Upon-Thames to Woking due the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result of the current Covid-19 situation, the current tenants of Midas House cannot move out and the Council cannot get access to all of the building to make it suitable for its use.

In addition, the procurement and commissioning of a contractor to carry out the necessary works to turn Midas House into a County Hall style property is just not possible under the current lockdown constraints.

Lib Dem County Councillor for Woking South, and Chairman of the Task Group responsible for scrutinising the move, Will Forster, said:

"Although I am disappointed the County Council will not be moving to Woking as planned, this was inevitable with the current pandemic. The Council is rightly focused on fighting Coronavirus and protecting vulnerable local people."

"If this move went ahead, there was a real risk the County Council would have purchased Midas House when the property market was at a high before the coronavirus pandemic but sold County Hall in Kingston-Upon-Thames when property was cheaper afterwards. That would be unacceptable and not be value for money for taxpayers."

"I am pleased the Council has agreed with me that Woking remains the best place for the County Council to have its Civic Heart once the pandemic is over."

The Lib Dem Group on Surrey County Council has called for the Council to reopen its Community Recycling Centres with social distancing measures to avoid fly tipping.

This follows the latest advice from the Government that stated that Household Waste Recycling Centres can be open, but should have social distancing measures in place.

Lib Dem Councillors are concerned the closure of local tips has started to result in a spate of very unwelcome fly tipping.

Local authorities are focusing on household rubbish and food waste and regard the collection of garden waste and recycling as less of a priority. This coupled with Community Recycling Centres being closed and people being at home, so having time for gardening and housework, has resulted in an increase in fly tipping.

Lib Dem Group Leader at County Hall, Councillor Chris Botten, said:

"I am calling on Surrey County Council to reopen our Community Recycling Centres in a limited and safe manner to enable gardeners to dispose of their plant material and also for householders, who may be using the time at home to catch up with domestic jobs, to safely dispose of waste."

"The County Council has been listening to concerns so far and I hope for a partial reopening of our community tips in the near future."

Following a request from Lib Dem Councillor Will Forster, Surrey County Council has agreed to postpone its planned increase of residential parking permits due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The County Council wants to increase the cost of residential parking permits in Controlled Parking Zones, and was intending to advertise and consult the public on the increase in April and then implement the increase soon after that. However, the consultation and increase will be now postponed until after the coronavirus pandemic.

Surrey Lib Dems voted against the county council's proposed budget for 2020/21 as it would put services to vulnerable residents at further risk.

'Every day I hear from families struggling with SEND needs, trying to get care packages for adults and those with Learning Disabilities. The County Council rations the services for vulnerable people and this budget makes that worse'.

Today councillors at Surrey County Council agreed to the purchase of Midas House in Woking.

The County Council has been looking to move out of its current home in Kingston for some time and has chosen the office building as the location for its new Civic Heart.

The current headquarters, County Hall, is expensive to run, not fit for purpose and not in Surrey. Midas House is a much smaller building and only councillors, the senior leadership team and some support staff will be based there; others will be relocated to offices in Leatherhead, Guildford and Reigate.

The Lib Dems have announced they would more than double spending on youth services in Surrey to £33,998,703,to help tackle rising levels of crime. This would form part of a total ring-fenced fund of £500 million for Local Authorities across England to spend on youth services, providing young people with positive, safe and healthy alternatives to gangs.

The Lib Dems have called on Surrey County Council to back a bill that would increase the fines for leaving vehicles idling and make it easier to levy fines.

During tomorrow's Full Council meeting, Councillor Will Forster will ask the Leader of Surrey County Council to call on the Government and Surrey's MPs to support the Vehicle Emissions (Idling Penalties) Bill.

The Liberal Democrat Group at SCC is concerned that the service was declared inadequate by Inspectors in December, and that the service is still seriously short of trained firefighters as a result of previous proposed cuts and a recruitment freeze. We believe the current plan to cut night time cover will unacceptably reduce response times; any change to the SFRS agreed by the Council should not reduce response times.