Lib Dems condemn “Out of touch” Conservative Surrey

Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have condemned the County Council's Conservative administration after an official survey showed that residents consider them out of touch.

According to the official report of the survey being presented to the all Conservative Cabinet of Surrey County Council tomorrow:

• Feeling able to influence decisions affecting the neighbourhood - 39% of respondents believed that they could influence decisions affecting their neighbourhood, one percentage point lower than during quarter one 2011/12, but one percentage point higher than during quarter two in 2010/11. The target for 2011/12 is 45%.
• Feeling informed - the extent to which residents say that Surrey County Council keeps them well informed about the services and benefits it provides was 54%, one percentage point higher than quarter one 2011/12, but two percentage points lower than during quarter two in 2010/11. The target for 2011/12 is 61%.

Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat leader of the Opposition Cllr Hazel Watson said: "These figures show just how out of touch Conservative run Surrey County Council is, as can be seen by the recent farce over on-street parking charges, the battle over library cuts and the former leader's tweets.

"Decisions are taken by a small clique at County Hall in Kingston, local committees in the Boroughs and Districts hardly have any powers and are threatened that if they take a differing view to the leadership they will be overruled.

"The targets for residents' satisfaction on these measures are hardly challenging, but the Council is performing no better than last year, and is in fact getting worse."

Note: The figures are contained in the papers for the "Quarterly Business Report" being presented to the Surrey County Council Cabinet on Tuesday 1 November.