Constituency now on knife edge with Lib Dems 2% ahead

Recent constituency modelling by You Gov has shown that had a General Election been held on the day they sampled, the most likely result would the removal of Mole Valley's Tory MP by the Lib Dems.

The polling showed that the Conservatives would lose 26 out of 64 seats where the Lib Dems polled well at the last General Election. These include other Surrey seats Esher & Walton (Dominic Raab's seat), Guildford, Woking and Jeremy Hunt's seat, South West Surrey.

Surrey Lib Dems secured agreement from Surrey County Council at its meeting on 12 July that it would look again at how best to coordinate public engagement on climate change projects such as the installation of electric vehicle charging points.

Surrey County Council has a target to reduce emissions by 1.38m - 2.4m tonnes of carbon per year by 2025, just 3 years away. The two major contributors to carbon emissions in Surrey are household heating and transport, primarily private car journeys. Effective communication and engagement are crucial to achieve this target. Ordinary people will be encouraged to make changes to their behaviour, for example to replace their gas boiler with a heat pump or to use public transport instead of travelling by car. At the moment there is no mechanism to bring together the general public, relevant local organisations, and elected representatives to air their views on how best to implement schemes locally.

A Surrey Lib Dems' motion calling on Surrey County Council to declare a cost-of-living crisis emergency in Surrey was voted down by the Tory administration at its full council meeting yesterday. One of the proposals put forward was for Surrey County Council to hold a county-wide summit to bring together a range of organisations that are involved in advising, supporting or providing financial help to residents who are experiencing hardship. The aim of the summit would be to find ways of better coordinating services; identify any gaps in provision and see what more could be done to ease the cost-of-living pressure on vulnerable residents.

Lib Dem Councillors have criticised Stagecoach over cancellations and cuts to key bus services in Guildford and Woking.

From today, the Services 1 and 2 in Guildford, will reduce to every 30 mins. From Monday 25^th July, the 91 Service in Woking will reduce to 15 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday; evening journeys and the whole of the Sunday timetable will remain unchanged.

Lib Dems will be calling on Surrey County Council to declare a cost-of-living crisis emergency in a motion they will propose at the full council meeting on 12 July.

Families in Surrey were starting to struggle even before the pandemic, but spiralling prices and real terms fall in wages have caused many more residents to start claiming benefits for the first time. Food bank usage has increased by 300% over 2019 figures and around 23,000 children are already living in poverty.

A recent YouGov MRP poll suggests that Mole Valley is one of 24 battleground seats that the Conservatives are set to lose to the Liberal Democrats in a General Eelection.

Other Surrey seats are also predicted as Lib Dem gains, including Esher & Walton. Guildford, Woking and South West Surrey, as well as Wimbledon and Carshalton & Wallington in South West London.

Dear friends, here is our update on local and "not-so-local-but-relevant" developments during June - excluding of course the wonderful win in Tiverton & Honiton which you all know about!

Council updates:

• An update about the Chalk Pit site; at a meeting on 30 June which Julie took part in there was some progress in stopping (in the short-term) the worst part of the noise from the site while various legal routes are being followed. More details on our Facebook post here.
• On Monday 4^th July there will be a meeting of the Strategy & Resources Committee immediately followed by a full Council meeting to discuss alternatives on dealing with the resignation of the Chief Executive. This is important to all residents, since it affects both how the Council is run and the ongoing costs. However, the RA are proposing the meeting is held in private, which we intend to object to on grounds of openness and transparency.
• The paying system for the Town Hall and Hope Lodge car parks has changed, requiring you to use a Pay & Display system that accepts cash, card or RingGo. The old barrier and token system kept on breaking down and the new approach should be more reliable and cheaper for the Council.
• Those of you with an allotment should have received a letter consulting on possible changes to their governance. The deadline for responses to be received is Sunday 3^rd July so if you have not responded, act now!
• This month saw regular meetings of various Committees - but other than the increased costs in producing the Local Plan there was nothing of particular note to report.
• The by-election for the vacant councillor seat in West Ewell will be on Thursday 7 July, and there will be hustings on Monday 4 July organised by the Epsom & Ewell Times.

Lib Dem Councillors have called the Conservative-run Surrey County Council's plans to axe area committees as one that 'undermines local democracy and reduce the local people's voice in Council decisions.'

Local and Joint Committees have been the mainstay of local democracy in Surrey over the last 20 years, providing a forum for county councillors to join with their counterparts from the district/borough councils to discuss issues and make decisions on local county council spending. Members of the public participated in the meetings by bringing petitions and asking questions about council services.

Local Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign demanding that the Government changes the arrangements for paying the £400 energy rebate announced by the Chancellor in May

Whilst the Government announced that the rebate would be paid to "all households", the current arrangements mean that many Park Home residents will be not receive it.