Surrey County Council set its gross expenditure budget for the 2016/2017 financial year at £1,686m. SCC aimed at efficiencies totaling £83.5m during this period via adding charges on some services while implementing service reductions in other areas. Where will the cuts manifest this year? Adult Social Care – £55.3m Public Health – £4.8m Children, Schools & Families – £3.5m Orbis and Business services – £2.3m Highways – £3.2m Environment – £2.3m Fire and Rescue – Read more…
A row has broken out about the decision by Surrey Highways (SCC) to spend £77,000 on a relatively unused footpath as a part of the much publicised SCC plan to improve pavements with high footfall and which are near to shops, hospitals and public buildings. SCC’s Pavement Project Horizon programme is a 5 year scheme to repair some of the worst pavements in the county, but Residents Association Councillors in Epsom and Ewell are furious Read more…
Residents’ Association County Councillor Hits Out at Surrey County Council Ban on Debate A Motion that would have seen Surrey County Councillors debate the importance and value of Parent Governors has been blocked under new standing orders introduced by the Conservatives at SCC. Residents’ Association County Councillor Eber Kington, who raised the issue at the request of parents and governors in his area after the Government had announced plans to remove the requirement for parent Read more…
Surrey County Council news – Epsom and Ewell. Pavement Repairs SCC has announced a £20million scheme of pavement repairs over the next five years. This is a welcome increase in funding as previously – and excluding patching and maintenance repairs – only about £1 million was allocated to the improvement of our footways across the whole of the county. That said, in recent years, I have managed to get twelve pavements and four footpaths reconstructed Read more…
In April an article in the Observer cited Epsom as a top performer in increasing its town centre footfall. The article described evidence from analysts at Ipsos Retail Performance noting: “According to Ipsos’s retail traffic index, overall footfall was down 0.9% in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same period a year ago. But that headline masks the fact that some towns and cities are faring much worse than the national picture would Read more…
Nork resident and mother of four Eva Hellings presented a 60-page petition on behalf of the hundreds of people who risk their lives daily crossing the A217 Brighton Road, Banstead near Burgh Wood, at a Reigate & Banstead Council local committee yesterday. The petition called for traffic lights or a bridge to be installed so that pedestrians could cross four lanes of traffic safely. The document included 1,028 signatories and was supplemented by Read more…
In December SCC faced an unexpectedly large and front loaded reduction of their Revenue Support Grant, a cut which was made less severe when the Minister had a change of mind in February and granted some transitional relief funding. However, and despite the slightly improved grant settlement, SCC still has to make major savings and efficiencies in 2016/2017 as well as use over £17milion of the Council’s reserves. SCC’s Budget It is a serious financial Read more…
Surrey gets some £24.1 million in transitional funding, yet the sustainability of the Council’s services is still up in the air Responding to David Hodge’s plea from last week, on 8th February the Government approved transitional funding of £11.9 million for the 2016/2017 fiscal year and an additional £12.2 million for 2017/2018 for Surrey. While these figures provide momentary relief for Surrey, the Council is still bound to lose the entire £116 million of its Read more…
From the Residents’ Association & Independent Group at Surrey County Council Contact: Tamas Csillag FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday 14th December ‘15 Email: tamas.csillag@surreycc.gov.uk Phone: 02085 417073 About the Residents Association & Independent Group: It is the largest opposition political group within Surrey County Council. It currently has nine members, representing divisions from across Surrey. The group leader is Cllr Nick Harrison and the Group has members represented on all the committees of the council. Read more…
Residents Association & Independent County Councillors Slam Ineffective Conservatives at Surrey County Council Residents’ Association and Independent County Councillors at SCC have called upon the leaders of Surrey County Council to start looking after the interest of Surrey taxpayers and to publicly challenge the Conservative Government over the huge cuts to the Council’s Rate Support Grant (RSG) planned for 2016/2017. The draft financial settlement, which will be confirmed over the next couple of weeks, shows Read more…