Thank you to all who voted for her, and for the army of volunteers who put so much effort in.
The work starts now.
You can watch her gracious acceptance speech via this link.
News that the future of the Library at Ewell Court House is secure was welcomed today by Cllr Nigel Pavey, who is treasurer of the Friends of Ewell Court Library. He said: "Those who worked so hard arranging a meeting with the Libraries chief and organising the petition against closure are to be congratulated. Everyone who uses the library will feel so relieved to know that this important community facility has been reprieved."
The threat to the YoYo Drop-in Centre for young people in Epsom Town centre was discussed at the recent meeting of SCC's Epsom & Ewell Local Committee. They unanimously passed a motion proposed by Cllr Colin Taylor calling upon SCC's Executive to re-consider their BDR review's proposal in the light of possible alterations to the facilities at the Lintons Youth Centre.
As well as Libraries and Youth Clubs, other Surrey County Council services threatened by the Tory BDR proposals include the Surrey History Centre, where the reduction in funding may seriously affect the quality of the service, and Surrey County Arts, which currently provides 278,000 music lessons annually. Proposals include increased tuition fees, even though tuition fees in Surrey are already 30% higher than the national average whereas some 42% of local authorities do not charge any tuition fees.
Surrey County Council Conservatives' claims that extra funding has been put into education, social services and road maintenance by sweeping cuts in administration and bureaucracy could be described politely as misleading or perhaps more accurately as downright lies, according to Councillor Janet Maines, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council. Most of the extra funding in the budget has come either from the government or from prudential borrowing says Mrs Maines.
Councillor Janet Maines, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, commenting on the County Council budget said, "I welcome the single figure increase in the Council tax for Surrey residents, which is good news for people on fixed incomes including pensioners. But I have opposed the budget because the Conservative administration at County Hall has not gone far enough to reduce bureaucracy and inefficiency within the Council. The base budget has not been examined in detail as was agreed by the Council one year ago. A number of multi-million pound contracts are not being adequately controlled by the Council. Although the Council is now making a welcome start to introduce cost-saving preventative measures such as key worker housing and energy efficiency promoted by the Liberal Democrats, it has been slow to do so."
Liberal Democrats are urging Surrey County Council to keep a commitment to invest in preventative services that will save money in the long term. For example, increasing allowances could encourage more people to become foster parents in Surrey and would save money currently spent on very expensive agency placements outside the County. This approach would take the County Council away from the current culture of crisis management and save taxpayers money at the same time.
October has arrived, bringing with it Black History Month - a time to celebrate the Black British community and their past, present and future contributions.
Leader's Speech to Autumn Conference 2025
Women’s rights around the world are under attack, with authoritarianism on the rise and deep cuts to UK aid undermining decades of progress. Defending women's rights must be a top priority and the UK must act boldly.
