New analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found there are a staggering 1.6 million cars in areas surrounding London which are not ULEZ compliant, including 157,338 in Surrey. Commuters, including key workers such as teachers, nurses and police officers driving into London from areas like Surrey are unable to access car scrappage schemes despite ULEZ being expanded to outer London in August, and will be forced to pay ULEZ charges every day for travelling to work.
- County Council criticised for sitting on £150 million in reserves whilst roads crumble
- Concern at cuts of £30.5 million to services to vulnerable adults and children's social care
- Council's budget includes £51.8 million of future cuts in roads budget
The Lib Dems have criticised the Conservatives on Surrey County Council's budget for keeping £150 million in the bank whilst cutting spending on roads and services for vulnerable people.
The Liberal Democrats running Woking Borough Council have agreed a pathway to implement a new Masterplan for Woking town centre, which - among other things - will limit the heights of future developments in the town centre.
At a recent meeting of the Executive, councillors supported a timetable for the implementation of a robust planning document that will introduce legal controls on future development in the area, ensuring new homes meet the needs of residents and enhance the overall appearance of the town centre.
Conservative MPs vote through15 year"pathetic"target of 80% reduction of phosphates in rivers
Lib Dem MP candidate slams"betrayal"of local people who are demanding tougher action on water companies
Yesterday afternoon, Conservative MPs including the MP for Wokingvoted through a new target which allows water companies to dump harmful substances in rivers until 2038.
New Council administration to narrowly set annual budget this year, for 2023/24
Even stark financial choices may not be enough to provide for mounting investment losses
Proper budgeting to make funds available to pay back Council company debts makes future annual budgets very challenging
Woking Borough Council is expected to set a working budget for the coming financial year, starting in April 2023. However, the former Conservative administration's failure to properly budget for cash to cover losses in Council companies means it will be hugely challenging to set a budget for future years.
New officially-audited accounts for Thameswey Limited, fully owned by Woking Council, uncover a string of overstatements of income and assets
Conservative administration advanced the company £492 million by end-2021
New documents reveal that the Council-owned company has negative net assets of £19.4 million, as of end-2021, rather than the claimed positive net assets
Up until 31 March 2023 residents in some areas of Surrey will benefit from the Government's bus fare cap scheme, which means that a single bus journey will cost no more than £2.
The primary aim of the scheme is to reduce travel costs at a time when the cost of living crisis is really starting to bite. But it is also hoped that lower fares might tempt some residents to leave their cars at home and try public transport to travel around locally. Bus operators are still struggling to return to pre-pandemic passenger numbers and this move could potentially help grow their patronage and also reduce vehicle carbon emissions across the area. In Surrey however just ten out of around 30 different companies operating bus routes in the county have decided to participate.
The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Woking, Will Forster has joined the Lib Dem party's demands for Parliament to be recalled amid estimates that 500 people across the country each week are dying due to A&E delays.
In recent days ambulance services across the country have declared "critical incidents", whilst ambulance staff have also been urged to conserve oxygen supplies due to a surge in demand.
Lance Spencer, Lib Dem councillor for Goldsworth East and Horsell Village submitted a question to this week's meeting of Surrey County Council to reveal the extent of the backlog in issuing Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) for children with special educational needs.
EHCPs are a legal document drawn up by the Council following an assessment whichdescribes a child or a young person's (aged up to 25) special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve.
