Local Library Closures

Amongst the cuts in Surrey County Council front line services proposed by the Conservatives' "BDR review" is the closure of the local libraries, at Bagshot, Caterham Hill, Ewell Court, Hersham, New Haw and Virginia Water. The decision will be taken at the County Council meeting on 11th April. If it is agreed to go ahead, the libraries will be closed from September 2006. County Councillor Diana Smith, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Community Services. said: "It makes no sense to close these popular facilities, especially as the BDR itself admits that the aim is not to save money, only to meet a CPA target imposed by the Labour government."

By contrast, the Liberal Democrat policy commitment to local libraries in our manifesto for last year's County Council elections states: "The Liberal Democrat group on Surrey County aims to:

• Keep libraries in public ownership.
• Protect local libraries from closure.
• Increase the number of books available at Surrey's libraries."

The Liberal Democrats were the only group to vote against a recent Conservative resolution welcoming the BDR review. They also voted against the Conservatives' budget proposals for 2006/2007 which rely on service cuts.

Lib Dem group chair Colin Taylor explained: "The BDR review has failed to make savings where they are needed and instead has proposed cuts in front-line services. This has happened because the consultants hired by the Executive were briefed to achieve CPA excellence for the County, rather than do what Surrey residents actually want and need."

He commented: "Once again it was disappointing to find the other opposition parties failing to vote against the Conservative proposals, even though they say they support keeping local libraries open."