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.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service was recently inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with a disappointingly overwhelming rating of 'inadequate' and 'needs improvement' across the board . As a result of this, Surrey County Council are currently consulting on their 'Making Surrey Safer' plan which aims to improve the standing of the service. The consultation is open to the public until 30th May 2019.

Surrey County Council own a broad range of land and property assets both in and outside of the County, with a total value of around £1.5bn. At the Cabinet meeting last week it was revealed that Surrey will be 'pausing' investment out of county for the time being whilst they evaluate the use of existing properties.

The 2nd May 2019 saw one of the largest quantities of local elections across the country for a long time, and Surrey was no exception. People turned out to elect their new local councillors, and it was a great success for the Liberal Democrats in Surrey.

There were 110 Liberal Democrat Councillors elected across the 11 boroughs and districts, and the Liberal Democrats gained control of the Council in Mole Valley.

Surrey County Council has a statutory duty to publicise the equalities and diversity profile of its workforce annually, at a minimum, as per The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011*. Unfortunately Surrey County Council have failed to do so.

The Council last publicised these statistics on its website in February 2016 - over 3 years ago now. This is why Fiona White has submitted a question for the Cabinet meeting taking place on Tuesday 30th April to find out why.

The Liberal Democrats have condemned the Conservative Government for slashing Surrey County Council budget for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by £4,403.72 per pupil in real terms since 2015, resulting in a loss of specialist provision.

The National Education Union, which published these statistics on 15 April, has warned that local authorities have now reached crisis point.

Although children with the highest special educational needs and disabilities have a legal right to extra support, the National Education Union has warned that funding under the Conservative Government has failed to keep up with increasing costs and rising pupil numbers.

The Liberal Democrats are campaigning for more money for these pupils who possess an Education, Health and Care Plan, saving schools and councils hundreds of millions of pounds.

Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Layla Moran MP, said:

"Everyone deserves the best start in life, and education can be the make or break difference. It is therefore heartbreaking, particularly as a teacher, that Conservative Ministers are failing the children most in need.

"It doesn't need to be this way. Young people deserve better, and the Liberal Democrats demand better. That's why we would invest millions more to support children with an Education, Health and Care Plan, freeing up money in the schools budget to provide tailored in-school support for children with less complex additional needs such as dyslexia."

Cllr Angela Goodwin, Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Guildford North, said:

"SEND funding is an investment in a child's future. It can help someone with a learning difficulty or disability secure a higher paid job, security and independence in later life.