MPs fail to stand up for Surrey in crucial funding vote
Liberal Democrat county councillors have criticised Surrey's 11 Conservative MPs after they all voted in favour of the Local Government Finance Settlement in the House of Commons on Wednesday 7th February. The Settlement sets out the level of funding from central government to local authorities for the next financial year and has been heavily criticised for not providing adequate funding to councils to provide essential services. All 9 Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey had written to the 11 MPs asking them to vote against the Settlement but no Conservative MP in Surrey spoke in the debate and all voted in favour.
Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, said today:
"I am deeply disappointed that none of Surrey's Conservative MPs spoke up for Surrey and voted against this Settlement which is a bad deal for residents. The Government's Settlement failed to address the crisis in adult social care, the loss of transitional funding which was worth £12m to the County Council last year, and continues the underfunding of the extremely high number of adults with learning disabilities who live in Surrey.
"Residents will be unimpressed that not a single Surrey MP even spoke in the Parliamentary debate to raise their concerns with government ministers. It is now a matter of public record that Surrey's Conservative MPs are actively supporting the poor funding deal that has contributed to the financial crisis we see here at County Hall, and which is leading to huge cuts in essential services. They deserve a much better standard of representation than they are currently receiving in Parliament."
NOTES
The email from all 9 Liberal Democrat county councillors to Surrey's 11 MPs can be found here:
https://surreylibdems.org.uk/en/document/hw-email-to-mps
The debate and vote in the House of Commons can be found here: