Surrey County Labour Party

Welcome to 2012 from Conservative Surrey

 

Conservative Surrey Heath has chosen Christmas and the season of goodwill to target savage increases to the cost of services for the elderly.

 

Commenting on this Rodney Bates, Leader of The Opposition on Surrey Heath Borough Council, says; “This is meant to be the season of goodwill when we think of others less fortunate then ourselves. However Surrey Heath Council clearly do not take the same view as these proposals would mean the most vulnerable people in our community would suffer by having to pay much more than at present.”

 

 

Young and Old Set to Suffer in 2012

 

As well as the elderly and disabled, cuts by Surrey Conservatives in education will affect children and young people. County Councillor Victor Agarwal (Stanwell) highlights how cuts in spending on schools and colleges in 2012 are about to hit Surrey. 

 

“The dramatic increase in young people here not in education or training highlights the need for good careers advice. Following the disbanding of Connexions, schools with tightening budgets are now being expected to provide this service. As a result many young people will not be adequately advised prior to their move to the world of work,” Councillor Agarwal states.

 

“The abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance is already bringing hardship to young people from poorer families studying in further education. Cuts imposed on Surrey’s Youth Service will result that much of the informal support they give our young people will disappear,” he continues.

 

 

What Future For Surrey's Schools?

 

“It is now widely recognised that the decision by Michael Gove, Surrey Heath’s MP, to disband The Schools for the Future building programme had left many schools in Spelthorne and the rest of Surrey with deteriorating buildings. The most recent indication is that Gove will not honour his promise to maintain frontline educational spending, further complicated here by academies siphoning parts of the education budget. As budgets become

squeezed savings will have to come from books, trips and covering for teacher absence," Councillor Agarwal states.

 

“But before our children even enter the education system families are paying the penalty for Surrey getting its sums wrong. Throughout the 90s the Council was either closing schools or amalgamating them with others on the basis of its estimates of a real fall in the number of children. In fact the number has increased and they are now faced with either providing more classrooms at existing schools or the great cost of opening new schools. The taxpayers of the county will be expected to pick up the bill for this error,” he says.

 

 

 

Millions Wasted

 

Councillor Agarwal then moved on to the condition of the county’s highways. “Because of mismanagement over recent years 40% of our roads are in need of repair. Labour consistently sought to draw attention to the consequences of employing failing contractors and not thoroughly checking on the quality of their work. Millions were wasted as a result of this. The figures tell it all: 1200 miles of Surrey’s roads were in need of repair in the period 2009/2010 but only 77 miles were actually repaired. It this rate it will take Surrey 150 years to repair its roads,” the Stanwell Councillor states.

 

 

Crime Up, Police Funding Cut

 

“Looking ahead to 2012 we have the ridiculous costly election for a Police Commissioner for the county. I hope this will not obscure the serious surge in crime here. Burglaries increased by 4.9% compared with the same month in 2010. However it is the 23.1% in robberies I find most disturbing. This must be seen in the context of the cuts in funding for the police announced by David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Not only is the quality of life threatened by the Council’s policies, but on the evidence of this our property and safety are threatened.  

 

 

 

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