Commenting on the letter published by OFSTED today, Councillor Chris Botten, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Children & Families, said:
Liberal Democrats have called upon Surrey County Council to improve and expand its provision of services to children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND). The County Council spends a total of £237 million on SEND services for children and young people, educates 822 SEND students outside of the county, and spends nearly £27 million on travel costs for SEND students. Liberal Democrat county councillors have tabled a motion, to be discussed at Council next week, calling for the Conservative-administration to invest in more SEND provision within Surrey, in order to reduce the number of placements outside of the county, as well as reducing travel costs and times for children and parents alike.
A petition of over 2,000 signatures was today presented to a meeting of Surrey County Council's Cabinet, calling for Surrey's Performing Arts Library to be saved. The petition, which was launched by Liberal Democrat county councillors in September, was handed in by Ges Ray, Vice-Chair of the Leith Hill Music Festival. Recommendations as to the future of the service will be proposed by the Communities Select Committee at their meeting in February 2018, with a final decision taken by the Council's Cabinet in March.
Liberal Democrat county councillors have expressed their concern after it was revealed that Surrey County Council's spending on consultants has more than doubled from the previous year. Following an information request to the County Council by Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, it was revealed that spending on consultants rose from £305,000 in 2015/16 to £663,420 in 2016/17 - a staggering rise of 118%. The maximum day rate paid was a shocking £1800 per day - meaning that at least one consultant working for the Tory administration was earning the equivalent of £468,000 a year. Cllr Hazel Watson said today: "At a time when the County Council is under extreme financial pressure and cutting vital services, spending on consultants should not be going up and certainly not by 118%. The Conservative administration cannot on the one hand say they have been forced to cut services because there is a lack of funding and at the same time double spending in areas such as this. "This use of consultants need
Liberal Democrat county councillors today welcomed the decision by Conservative-run Surrey County Council to amend its unpopular street lighting policy. The policy, which was introduced in 2016 and early 2017, saw thousands of street lights turned off across the county without any consultation with the residents affected. The change of policy means that lights will stay on until 1am rather than midnight from Thursday 23rd November 2017.
