As we scrutinise the budget, share your thoughts As we come round to the annual Budget for the Council, Spelthorne Liberal Democrats are inviting residents to share their thoughts about this year's budget proposals. Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be making some recommendations on the 9th February about some areas we have addressed before a decision on the final budget is made on 25th February.
26 recommendations but no action plan detailed yet Last November the Local Government Association (LGA) conducted a review into the Council's current financial strategy and the report has just been published. Despite having had the draft findings since December there is still no action plan to address the recommendations. The LGA team was forced to conduct the review remotely due to COVID restrictions and had to work with the information provided by the Council. This information set the tone from the outset by telling the LGA that "Spelthorne BC is a well-performing council" and that it was following a "strongly commercial approach". Despite the unrelentingly positive messages the LGA team came up with 26 recommendations - yes, twenty-six - on a wide range of topics including housing, finances, and decision-making. What is Spelthorne's Action Plan? Good question. It is now six weeks since the draft report was delivered but there is no sign of a plan from the council in response. Many of the recommendations
Liberal Democrat Councillors are keeping up the pressure Unfortunately, due to the current Coronavirus Pandemic and the increased work pressures on Officers, the Extraordinary Overview & Scrutiny meeting to improve accountability over developments at the Eco-Park has had to be postponed. Whilst the Spelthorne Liberal Democrats are disappointed that the meeting originally scheduled for the 2nd February is unable to go ahead, they remain committed to getting answers for residents. Liberal Democrat members of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Cllrs Tom Fidler, Lawrence Nichols and Richard Dunn have been proposing agenda items based on resident feedback. These include issues of smell, noise, the gases emitted from the stack, site developments and contractual operating arrangements. Commenting, Cllr Tom Fidler said: "Residents should know that we will not stop until we get answers on this important issue. The volume of responses we have received are going unnoticed and they deserve to get the answers. W
Please take the short survey Cllr Paul Kennedy, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner, is urging residents to respond to the latest proposal by incumbent David Munro for a 5.54% increase in the police element of council tax, and is calling for better value for money for taxpayers. The proposal corresponds to an annual increase of £10 for Band A households, £15 for Band D, and £30 for Band H properties, on top of any increases by Surrey's local councils. The increase is the maximum permitted without requiring a local referendum of Surrey residents. If implemented, the proposal will mean the police element of Surrey residents' council tax has increased by nearly 30% over the term of the current Police Commissioner, who was elected as a Conservative in 2016. Despite this increase in funding from residents, there has been an overall reduction in visible policing, and the proportion of positive outcomes for vulnerable victims has halved. Cllr Kennedy said: "Like most people, I w
This has been a Liberal Democrat project from day one In our last Sunbury Common Focus - and in our web article - Liberal Democrat Councillors Richard Dunn and Bernie Spoor reported that the Kenyngton Manor play area was no longer fit for purpose. This was after being contacted by residents who had formed a group to get this play area upgraded. They contacted Spelthorne Borough Council and obtained support from Neighbourhood Services to look at the area and obtain quotes to get the job done.
The Conservatives see no value in scrutiny The Tory Leader of Spelthorne Borough Council has put out a press release about next year's Council Tax without any discussion with councillors. Despite being a minority group with only 16 out of 39 councillors, the Conservative Leader has announced what the new tax rate will be with no opportunity for scrutiny or consultation.
