A Unite/Mori student survey carried out in January 2004 on voting intentions gives the Lib Dems a leading share of 34%, with Labour on 28% and the Tories third on 19%. Students will have a major impact in 2005, as the elections are expected during the university year, on May 5, unlike in 2001 when the elections fell during the holiday period.
Commenting on the launch of an online map to tell homeowners about flooding risks in England and Wales, Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, said:
Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy today launched the Liberal Democrat Pre-manifesto - the first important stage in the manifesto process, which will take the Party into the General Election.
Under new Liberal Democrat proposals police chiefs would sign contracts with local communities setting out how many officers they would deploy. The "minimum policing guarantees" would set funding levels for local police for a rolling three-year period. The guarantees are part of the party's new plans to tackle crime. The plans include using money earmarked for the government's ID card plan to hire an extra 10,000 front line police and 20,000 community support officers.
Liberal Democrat county councillors have called for care leavers in Surrey to be exempted from paying council tax until they are 25. The campaign was initiated by highly respected charity The Children's Society and will be discussed at County Hall on March 20th.
Liberal Democrat county councillors have raised concern over the future of Children's Centres in Surrey. Currently there are 58 centres across the county, providing services such as childcare, play and learning sessions, parenting courses, employment support and information and guidance for low-income families. Surrey County Council is currently consulting on a new model for delivering its "Early Help" services, with the aim of saving at least £9.7m.
Responding to Cllr Andrew Povey's comments on BBC Radio Surrey this morning, Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said today:
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have expressed their concerns over the long waiting times faced by children and young people with mental health problems in the county.
Liberal Democrat county councillors have criticised Surrey's 11 Conservative MPs after they all voted in favour of the Local Government Finance Settlement in the House of Commons on Wednesday 7th February. The Settlement sets out the level of funding from central government to local authorities for the next financial year and has been heavily criticised for not providing adequate funding to councils to provide essential services. All 9 Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey had written to the 11 MPs asking them to vote against the Settlement but no Conservative MP in Surrey spoke in the debate and all voted in favour.
A petition set up by Liberal Democrat county councillors calling on Surrey County Council to axe its charges on residents disposing of DIY waste has attracted over 1000 signatures in just over 2 weeks. The petition was set up after the Government, as part of a wider consultation on fly-tipping, stated that "The Government's view is that residents should be able to dispose of household DIY waste free of charge" and "The Government will consider clarifying the law if councils continue to charge for disposal of reasonable amounts of DIY waste". The County Council introduced the unpopular charges, dubbed the "Tory Tip Tax", in September 2016 and earlier in January this year ended the daily allowance for local residents to dispose of waste for free.
