Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrats

Following a request by the Lib Dems, Surrey County Council has agreed to exempt young care leavers from paying its share of Council Tax.

Earlier today, Surrey's Full Council approved a report from the Cabinet to give young people who have been in the care system a discount of 75% on their Council Tax, which is the Surrey Council portion of Council Tax bills. About 600 young people under 25 who have left the care of the Council will no longer have to pay full Council Tax from next April.

The Lib Dems have called on Surrey County Council to back a bill that would increase the fines for leaving vehicles idling and make it easier to levy fines.

During tomorrow's Full Council meeting, Councillor Will Forster will ask the Leader of Surrey County Council to call on the Government and Surrey's MPs to support the Vehicle Emissions (Idling Penalties) Bill.

The Liberal Democrat Group at SCC is concerned that the service was declared inadequate by Inspectors in December, and that the service is still seriously short of trained firefighters as a result of previous proposed cuts and a recruitment freeze. We believe the current plan to cut night time cover will unacceptably reduce response times; any change to the SFRS agreed by the Council should not reduce response times.

You are invited to join our fledgling social media sites - it's a great way to keep in touch with what's going on at the moment.

Facebook public group COLLEGE WARD FOCUS has lots of info on environmental issues and doesn't just relate to College ward, although the administrators are your College ward Focus team which includes your Borough Councillors.

For World Environment Day, Liberal Democrat Climate Change spokesperson Wera Hobhouse tabled a bill to give local authorities more powers to issue fines to idling vehicles.

The Bill will increase penalties for stationary vehicle idling offences, as well as increasing fines for those who repeatedly offend.

World Environment Day is the United Nations day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. This year the focus is on tackling air pollution.

Speaking ahead of tabling her bill, Wera Hobhouse said:

"For far too long this Conservative Government has failed to take air pollution seriously. They have lost numerous court cases over their inability to tackle the toxic fumes that Britain breathes every day. Liberal Democrats demand better.

"This is a major crisis, with emissions from vehicles responsible for a myriad of health problems, many terminal. Research shows that 800,000 people die every year across Europe due to air pollution.

"Yet the Conservative Government do nothing.

"The legislation that I have tabled is crucial step in tackling our air pollution crisis. It will allow local authorities to clamp down on idling without the need to apply to the Government first, and it will enable them to increase fines on repeat offenders.

"We must do more to tackle both the climate emergency and the air pollution crisis. The Tories must stop wilfully ignoring the problem and back my Bill."

The Liberal Democrat MEPs have elected Catherine Bearder MEP as the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament following the first meeting of the MEP group today.

Following the best ever European Election result in the party's history, Catherine Bearder MEP will lead a group of 16 Liberal Democrat MEPs as the party continues to campaign to stop Brexit.

Speaking after the announcement, Catherine Bearder MEP said:

"I am delighted to be elected as the leader for the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament.

"Our main priority will be to stop Brexit and with 16 MEPs we will ensure our message is heard loud and clear in Brussels.

"We will also fight for those EU and UK citizens who were denied a vote on this election."

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable MP added:

"Catherine led the charge for British liberalism in Brussels during a difficult five years for the party.

"She has consistently kept the Remain flame alight, as well as being a leading voice on environmental protection and the fight against wildlife trafficking.

"With a firm grasp of how the EU institutions work, and how to get things done, I know she will lead our new team of 16 with distinction. She has a group with an impressive body of experience in the European Parliament to complement the talent of our many new MEPs.

"We are now the second largest liberal delegation in the European Parliament, and I look forward to our MEPs making a real mark as the Union sets its agenda and chooses a new Commission for the coming five years."

We launched our EU manifest today. Read the Liberal Democrat plan to stop Brexit and reunite Britain today.

Today, we're launching our EU manifesto. We're running our campaign on a clear message - a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to stop Brexit.

We were the first to call for a People's Vote in 2016 - and we haven't stopped fighting for it, nearly 3 years later. We want Britain to remain in the EU because it's best for our economy, our public services and best for the environment.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service was recently inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with a disappointingly overwhelming rating of 'inadequate' and 'needs improvement' across the board . As a result of this, Surrey County Council are currently consulting on their 'Making Surrey Safer' plan which aims to improve the standing of the service. The consultation is open to the public until 30th May 2019.

The Focus team in College Ward ran a successful campaign in the borough elections 2019 with David Gulland and Julie Morris both elected as councillors and André Kubicek missing out by a mere 11 votes. The election result was not an unusual one, but the number of "split" votes was most definitely unusual. There were hundreds. Some residents had voted for one Lib Dem, one RA and one Conservative. Does this voting pattern reflect a desire on the part of residents for all the parties to work together? Most certainly the candidates being listed on the ballot paper in the alphabetical order of their surname influenced the result. With the Euro elections upon us, there is just one X required on the ballot paper on 23rd May, not three as there were in the borough elections.

Surrey County Council own a broad range of land and property assets both in and outside of the County, with a total value of around £1.5bn. At the Cabinet meeting last week it was revealed that Surrey will be 'pausing' investment out of county for the time being whilst they evaluate the use of existing properties.