Mole Valley Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news that the Conservative Secretary of State for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs, Andrea Leadsom MP, has called upon councils to scrap their charges for disposing of household waste at Community Recycling Centres (CRCs). Conservative-run Surrey County Council brought in the unpopular charges in September 2016 despite massive opposition from Liberal Democrat county councillors and residents.

Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey are delighted that following a question in the House of Lords by Lib Dem Environment spokesperson Baroness Kate Parminter, it has again been confirmed that DIY waste should be disposed of for free.

The Conservative Minister Lord Bourne, stated in a written answer on 20th March 2017 that DIY waste is household waste and should therefore be disposed of for free. However Conservative-run Surrey County Council continues to charge for the disposal of waste from DIY claiming that it is not household waste.

As the closure of Sexual Health Clinics in Surrey starts to come into effect with the transfer of services to CNWL, our campaign demanding proper consultation regarding the clinics is starting to have some effect. Following the first formal confirmation that clinics at 15 of the 18 venues across Surrey would be closing, Claire Malcomson has received a private communication from CNWL - the new service provider. Implicitly acknowledging the likely impact of the closure of clinics, CNWL states

At last, only days before the deadline of April 1st, it has been officially confirmed that 15 sexual health clinics across Surrey are closing this week. The information is not given in the main announcement on the Healthy Surrey web-site. Instead you have to look in the document of more detailed information provided by the new service providers CNWL. This includes the list of 15 clinics where services are being withdrawn from31st March. The confusion about the status of these clinics is illustrated by the fact that late last week we were assured by a Conservative County Councillor that the clinic is his area was staying open. If even County Councillors were not briefed properly, how can patients be expected to know what's happening.

On Monday 20th March, Surrey County Council announced the last minute postponement of key parts of its controversial decision to change the provision of sexual health clinics throughout the county. These clinics provide advice and services around sexually-transmitted infections, genito-urinary medicine and contraception. The changes are planned to take effect from 1^st April.

Following the launch of the Liberal Democrat petition calling for proper consultation on the future of sexual health clinics in Surrey and for retention of the clinic in Leatherhead, the local press has joined our calls for better information.

Claire Malcomson, the Lib Dem spokesperson on Well-being at Mole Valley District Council, said: "Despite pursuing contacts in the Health Service and in both Mole Valley and Surrey Councils, it has taken me a month to build up a picture of what seems to be proposed. The uncertainty is unsettling for patients and for staff working in these clinics - and it is now only three weeks before the new provider takes over the services.

Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have expressed their anger as the Conservative County Council was forced to reveal cuts of £346K to library resources over the next two years.

The Conservative-administration plans to reduce the county's library resources budget, used to buy items such as books and DVDs, by £346K which amounts to a cut of 22% by 2019. The reduction in the resources budget for libraries follows significant cuts in the amount of library stock owned by the county council, which has dropped from 1,597,830 items in December 2013 to 1,386,752 items in March 2016 - a reduction of 211,078 items (13%).

Surrey's Sexual Health clinics provide vital services covering sexually transmitted infection, genito-urinary medicine and contraception. They limit the spread of sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV, protect young people's health and reduce teenage pregnancies, significantly cutting the costs of our local health and care services. Most of these, including those at Leatherhead and Epsom, are now facing closure leaving just 3 clinics for the whole of Surrey.

Liberal Democrat Councillors have launched a campaign to prevent the closure of many Sexual Health, Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) and HIV clinics in Surrey.

It is understood that most of the clinics in Surrey are planned to close on, or shortly after, the transfer of the services to a new provider - the Central & North-West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) - on April 1^st 2017.

Liberal Democrat Councillors on Surrey County Council have called for the release of a list of 103 properties and parcels of land owned by the County Council and described as "assets" but details of which the council is refusing to share with councillors and residents. The 103 assets are "not in operational use" and were first referred to in council papers in December 2016 and despite repeated assurances from the county council that the information would be provided, the list has still not been shared with councillors.