We have all become more aware of the need for free school meals in the last few months, but child food poverty did not start with Covid19. Surrey Lib Dems have called on the Surrey County Council administration to take steps to address this growing problem across the county.

Surrey is a comparatively wealthy county, but this generalisation hides a number of uncomfortable truths about the level of poverty experienced by those living in some of its poorer areas. Some families are already struggling to put food on the table for children in a county where housing costs are four times less affordable than the national average and are amongst the highest in the country.

Please see this petition from the Electoral Reform Society

https://action.electoral-reform.org.uk/page/2401/petition/1?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ers-email&utm_campaign=local-democracy&utm_content=Local+STV+petition+push+A&ea.url.id=5027448

The Surrey Lib Dems are asking people across the county who care for relatives to get in touch and share their story - to mark national Carers Rights Day.

Lib Dem Party Leader Ed Davey has said he wants the party wants to be a "strong voice" for the millions across the country - including the 97,691 people in Surrey who care for those who need it.

Surrey's Liberal Democrat PCC candidate Paul Kennedy is calling on Surrey's Police Commissioner to act, as Lib Dem research reveals 30-40% of non-emergency calls to Surrey Police went unanswered in late summer. In August alone nearly 10,000 callers - representing 32% of total 101 calls - gave up in the face of a 4 minute average waiting time, while nearly 1,000 callers had to wait more than 20 minutes to get through.

Dear friends, here is our latest update covering the period since our last message on 30 October.

COVID - local and national:

• On COVID matters, and what we should or shouldn't be doing, we reiterate the need to look at the source material rather than rely on the media. The most relevant pages are:

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Dear friends, here is our latest update covering the period since our last message on 16 October.

At the time of writing it looks like we may be facing a more severe "lock-down" either locally or indeed nationally. Given the fast pace of change and general gloom we decided to not cover COVID at all in this update, instead please follow the government and Borough websites https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus and https://www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk for updated info (and be wary of the media getting it even more wrong that the politicians!).

Last week the Conservative Government voted against extending free school meals for children in need during the holidays, including Angela Richardson, MP for Guildford, Cranleigh and our Villages. This means that during October half term, the Christmas holidays and beyond, there will be many parents struggling to feed their children.
Not only have the Conservative Government taken this action, which has shocked many, but they have also been condemned by many members of the public for their response to the criticism. Just one reaction was that of Paul Scully, who is a Conservative minister, was to say "Children have been going hungry for years".
In Surrey, 9% of children live in poverty, despite one or more of their parents being in work and Surrey Lib Dems argue that free school meals are an essential lifeline for many, especially with the further difficulties faced by all due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liberal Democrat County group leader, Chris Botten said:
" Suggesting that families need support because their parent(s) spend their money on non-essential items is dangerous and harmful. It is clear the Conservatives are out of touch and hold great contempt for large sections of our communities, this is unacceptable. We cannot allow children to suffer as a result."
"That is why Liberal Democrats across Surrey are calling on the County Council to use their powers to show compassion, take responsibility and step in."
Surrey residents can sign the petition calling for an extension to free school meals in Surrey here: http://bit.ly/PetitionSCCFreeSchoolMeals
Zöe Franklin, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Guildford, Cranleigh and our villages backed the petition and added:
"This Conservative Government are failing Surrey's Children's and their parents with their vote last week. That is why we are calling on the County Council to step up and fill the gap left by their colleagues in Westminster.
However, there are so many determined to help families at this time. As well as congratulating the brilliant campaigning by Marcus Rashford, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank those businesses and members of the community who have come forward to help ensure as many children as possible have access to free meals during half term."

Dear friends, here is our latest update covering what we hope are interesting developments since our last message on 26 September. It has been a rather chaotic/depressing/you name it period and so there is rather a lot to cram in - as usual we've tried to cover the very local and the wider picture.

Borough news: