Surrey Liberal Democrats vote against highways spending (5th February)

Nick Skellett, Leader of SCC, expressed himself ‘astonished’ after the Liberal Democrats voted against Conservative proposals for spending on highways.

In the budget, proposals were put forward to borrow £25m to invest in highways improvements, in addition to utilising a £4m grant from central government.

However the Lib-Dem group voted unanimously to throw the budget out without suggesting any alternatives.

Mr. Skellett remarked: “I find it astonishing that the Liberal Democrats have in effect voted to spend only £4m on highways improvements for 2008/09.

Had they carried the day, £25m of funding for Surrey’s highways would have been lost.

Improving the standard of Surrey’s roads is one of this Conservative administration’s top priorities, and I am surprised that the Liberal Democrats are not prepared to support us on this. Whatever the Liberal Democrats say, it is clear from their actions that Surrey’s highways do not matter to them”.

David Munro, Executive Member for Transport, added: “We all know that the government has underfunded Surrey on a consistent basis for a number of years, and that we would be unable to deliver on our priorities if we simply relied on government funding. Somehow, however, it appears that the Liberal Democrats would be happy to rely only on government funding, and that baffles me.

Surrey Conservatives will continue to invest in our highways to bring them up to the standards that our residents expect, that is a key priority for us.

Surrey Liberal Democrats, on the other hand, would starve Surrey’s roads of money. I find this position completely incredible”.

Simon Harding, who chairs the Transportation Select Committee at County Hall, commented: “I often hear Liberal Democrats complaining about roads in Surrey, and it is true that we need to improve the quality of our highways. I would, therefore, have expected them to vote for increased investment in our road network, rather than to vote against it. I agree with Mr. Skellett that it was an astonishing decision.

I hope that the residents of Surrey are aware of just how low a priority highways improvements really are for their local Liberal Democrats”.

The Conservative budget proposals were approved, and the extra investment in highways will go ahead despite Liberal Democrat opposition.