This Carers Week, the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to provide emergency funding to give carers a break from dramatically increased caring responsibilities during the Covid pandemic.
More than 108,400 people in Surrey are looking after elderly, disabled or vulnerable people. Data from Carers UK shows 64% of carers have not been able to take any sort of a break during the pandemic.

Schools across Surrey are set to lose £1.1 million in funding for the most disadvantaged pupils in the county following the Government's decision to alter the method of calculating pupil premium funding.

The pupil premium, which aims to close the attainment gap by providing extra money to pupils eligible for free school meals, was a flagship reform introduced by the Lib Dems in Government in 2011.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for all EU citizens in the UK to be given the automatic right to stay, as new figures reveal that 3,580 living in Surrey are still waiting for the Home Office to process their applications - with just five weeks to go before the Government's deadline.

The latest EU Settlement Scheme statistics show that, as of the end of March, there have been 80,8880 applications from people living in Surrey, with 77,300 of these having been concluded.

The Lib Dem Group on Surrey County Council has elected Will Forster as its new Group Leader.

Will Forster, County Councillor for Woking South, was chosen as the new Leader of the Lib Dem Group on Surrey County Council at a meeting between members this morning. He succeeds Councillor Chris Botten, who narrowly lost his seat in the recent election.

The Lib Dems gained 5 seats on Surrey County Council in the elections held on Thursday 6th May, resulting in the largest Lib Dem Group at County Hall since 1997.

After gaining 5 seats, the Lib Dems now have 14 County Councillors in Surrey. Although the Conservatives still control Surrey County Council, they have a reduced majority, notably down from before the election.

Dear friends, welcome to our latest local Update.

We've kept the relevant links to the COVID information at the bottom of the Update for your ready reference, but we are sure you are aware of the main thrust which is "we can do more, but let's not be stupid since variants keep on popping up". You will see from the data that the number of cases locally seems to have stopped falling.

Here is the text from the Electoral Reform Society:

The government have just announced in the Queen's Speech that they will legislate to make it harder for millions of ordinary people to vote.

Demanding ID at the doors of every polling station is a solution in search of a problem. Voting is safe and secure in the UK, meaning this policy is just an unnecessary barrier to democratic participation. Ministers need to listen to these concerns and drop these costly plans.

Paul Kennedy, Liberal Democrat candidate for Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner, has challenged the Conservative candidate's claims that her links with Conservative Ministers will somehow deliver more police funding for Surrey. Experience shows that Ministers just take Surrey Conservatives for granted, preferring to channel extra funding to "red wall" seats in the North.

The Lib Dems have called for an ambitious package of £48 billion for local authorities to tackle the climate emergency, of which an extra £140 million would be invested directly in our local community in Surrey.

This new funding would go directly to Surrey County Council to fund green infrastructure, and improve the local environment.