A key council strategy document, outlining the future vision and direction for a Sustainable Community in Epsom & Ewell failed to gain the support of no less than 15 members of the Borough Council at a meeting on 28th April.
The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Government's decision on Gurkha settlement rights is as another huge betrayal of the Gurkhas who have served our country. Gurkha campaigners are sickened by the Government's new policy of extending automatic citizenship rights to those who served 20 years. The normal period of service for the majority of Gurkhas was 15 years.
After scores of complaints about the new tenancy agreement for allotments, the borough council has officially apologised for the mix up and agreed that the new agreement doesn't need to be signed for 2009.
At the eleventh hour and for no specific reason, the council has decided to postpone the Public Meeting arranged for 29th April. Lib Dem councillors did not agree with the decision.
When Horton Chapel and Horton Water Tower were saved from demolition during the building of the Livingstone Park estate in Epsom, local residents were consulted about its future. That first meeting was held five years ago!
An end to discrimination against users of Guide Dogs and Hearing Dogs has drawn closer following a key vote in the European Parliament. Guide Dogs for blind people and Hearing Dogs for deaf people are included in an umbrella term "Assistance Dogs" covering dogs trained to help people with a variety of disabilities.
Commenting on Government plans to cut university funding by more than £500m, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Universities Secretary Stephen Williams said: "The Government failed to live up to its commitment to fund extra university places and now it seems to be punishing the universities that went out of their way to help the pupils that had been let down."
The Surrey Police Authority has recently approved a seven point plan for Surrey Police in order to address their anticipated funding shortfall over the next three years to increase front-line police officers and further improve policing. This initiative has been supported by the Lib Dem members of the Police Authority.
Liberal Democrat County Councillors have voiced their strong opposition to cuts in services by the Conservative administration. The Conservative run Cabinet has this Autumn decided to terminate all Pegasus school bus services in July 2010, to reduce the ordinary public bus services and reduce the number of roads to be gritted in winter in advance of ice and snow.
For many years the Liberal Democrats have been arguing that there are better and safer modern green alternatives to mass burn incineration. The announcement by the Tories that they will abandon "energy from waste" (mass burn incineration) has finally recognised that the Lib Dem position has been correct all long. Apart from the environmental impact, mass burn incineration is known to discourage councils from recycling waste.
The Audit Commission has today published a report rating Surrey County Council's performance as merely "adequate". The Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) rated the performance of the organisation with scores from 1 to 4 for managing performance, use of resources, managing finances, governing the business and managing resources. The County Council only achieved a score of 2 out of 4 which means that it meets only minimum requirements and only performs adequately.
The Care Quality Commission, the government agency in charge of assessing the quality of care available to vulnerable people, has rated the care services provided by Surrey County Council as "adequate" - the lowest rating awarded to Adult Services this year, shared only by another seven Councils in the country. According to their report, Surrey is still in need of special measures and the Council will be closely monitored by the Government to make sure services improve.