Surrey County Council Liberal Democrats

Working for a better future for the residents of Surrey

County Hall
Conty Cllr Hazel Watson

Welcome to the website of the Liberal Democrat group on Surrey County Council. We hope you find it interesting. Amongst other things you can:

Hazel V Watson

Group Leader

Lib Dem Campaigns

Surrey News


Lib Dems hold balance of power in European Parliament New!

Mon 8th Feb 2010

An independent analysis of the EU has revealed that the ALDE, the Lib Dem group of MEPs, holds the balance of power in the European Parliament.

ALDE Logo

Liberal Democrats pledge £ 25m extra for Surrey schools New!

Wed 3rd Feb 2010

The Liberal Democrats have announced a major funding commitment that would boost education in Surrey. Nick Clegg has given a Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment for a Pupil Premium that would mean investing around £ 25m of extra cash in Surrey schools, raising the funding for disadvantaged pupils to private school levels.

Nick Clegg and Sue Doughty at Annual Dinner (photography: Alan Muhammed)

Help for Young People

Fri 22nd Jan 2010

Do you know a young man or woman who has recently left college or university and finds they can't get job?

Hope for Young People

Mandelson forcing universities to lower standards and offer less choice

Sat 2nd Jan 2010

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."

Stephen Williams

Surrey Police Seven Point Plan

Fri 1st Jan 2010

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.

Surrey Police Authority Crest

Copenhagen Comedown

Wed 30th Dec 2009

Lib Dem Euro MP for the South East, Catherine Bearder, has expressed her huge disappointment at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

Catherine at The Wave

South East MEP Sharon Bowles calls for Eurostar overhaul

Sat 26th Dec 2009

Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles has called for an overhaul of Eurostar following weekend failures of its service which left thousands of passengers trapped in the Channel Tunnel and up to 60,000 people stranded. Sharon Bowles said: "Having seen the distress of people who were trapped in the Channel Tunnel over the weekend, some for up to seven hours, it is imperative that Eurostar gets its act together."

Sharon Bowles MEP at the Eurostar

Liberal Democrats Oppose County Council Cuts in Services

Tue 15th Dec 2009

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.

County Cllr Hazel Watson outside County Hall

Liberal Democrats welcome Tory U-turn on Incineration

Tue 15th Dec 2009

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.

Cty Cllr Will Forster

Surrey County Council Rated "Adequate" by Audit Commission

Wed 9th Dec 2009

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.

Cty Cllr Hazel Watson

The Liberal Democrats Carry the British Torch in Europe

Tue 8th Dec 2009

A number of concerns have recently been expressed over the appointment of Michel Barnier, the new EU Commissioner for the Internal Market.

Michel Barnier, the new EU Commissioner for the Internal Market

Green or a Deeper Shade of Blue?

Sat 5th Dec 2009

David Cameron's Tory MEPs have launched a last minute attempt to scupper the EU's Copenhagen position of cutting carbon emissions and increasing climate change aid for developing countries.

Copenhagen Pledge

Surrey County Council fails again

Fri 4th Dec 2009

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.

Fiona White

Local MEP Joins Fight Against Mega Trucks

Mon 23rd Nov 2009

Having fought against 30 tonne trucks with the Women's Institute in the 1980s, local Euro MP Catherine Bearder found herself fighting again when she attended a meeting of the No Mega Trucks campaign recently.

Mega Trucks

Streetlighting Repairs

Sat 7th Nov 2009

Surrey Highways are currently not repairing street lights except in the most urgent cases. A new PFI street lighting contract is expected to start early next year, which will involve replacing 80% of the existing lamp columns, so they are not spending money on repairing columns that will be replaced.

Man looking at unlit street light

Tories refuse to reconsider Pegasus School Buses

Tue 3rd Nov 2009

The Conservative Cabinet at County Hall have refused to reconsider their decision to axe the Pegasus school buses as from July 2010. The Tory administration is reneging on a decision made only last December 2008 to continue the service for at least two more years until July 2011. The Conservatives do one thing before the election and another thing after.

Pegasus Buses

Lib Dems force Surrey County Council to reconsider axing Pegasus school buses

Wed 21st Oct 2009

Due to the pressure and the thorough examination of Liberal Democrat councillor David Goodwin, Surrey County Council Transport Select Committee have forced the Council's Cabinet to reconsider their decision to axe the popular Pegasus school bus service and to proceed instead with a proper investigation to find out how it can be maintained in future for the benefit of Guildford children and parents.

Pegasus Buses

Lib Dem Dave Hodgson becomes the new directly-elected mayor of Bedford

Fri 16th Oct 2009

Dave Hodgson (Lib Dem) has won the public vote to become the new directly-elected mayor of Bedford.

Dave Hodgson

"Corner shops mustn't lose out" says Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles

Fri 16th Oct 2009

Local Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles is working to make sure the UK's corner shops don't lose out from a proposed EU Directive on the safety of Pharmaceuticals.

Sharon at Wyeth

Local Lib Dem MEP signs petition against cruelty to horses

Tue 13th Oct 2009

Today Catherine Bearder MEP signed a petition to stop the cruel treatment of horses during transport across Europe.

Petition against Cruelty to Horses

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Liberal Democrat TV
Quotes of the Week

"I hate to say it, but only one party leader seems to have grasped that, if you construct a system where unskilled people are worse off by taking a job than by staying on welfare, they remain trapped in poverty - and that is Nick Clegg."

Lord Norman Tebbit

Daily Telegraph online - 13 Jan

"It's unbelievable that the Tories are still planning to cut taxes for a handful of millionaires when the majority of people across the country are feeling the squeeze. We need fair tax cuts that put money back in the pockets of ordinary people. The Tory sums simply do not stack up. It is irresponsible and highly misleading for George Osborne to continue to pretend that they do."

Vince Cable MP

Responding to Conservative Spending Plans - 4 Jan

Downing Street Says

President Karzau Phonecall

MPs’ Expenses

Iran

NHS Speech

Afghanistan

More Downing Street Says...