Surrey County Conservatives

County Lib-Dems are living in the past - again (5th August)

Responding to a recent report from the outgoing Chief Executive, Michael Frater, the Conservative Group on Surrey County Council have released the following statement;

[In the name of David Hodge]

“Mr. Frater has made a number of comments regarding the previous administration at County Hall. We accept that these are his views, and that he has been very forthright in putting them forward. Whilst we welcome his observations we do not accept all of them. I also believe that in recent statements Surrey’s Lib-Dems have taken many of his comments out of context”.

Cllr. Hodge then went on to talk about the future.

“This is a new group, a new administration and we will be working with a new Chief Executive. We have a new Leader, a very different Cabinet and nearly half of the Conservative Group are newly elected. Only one of the portfolio holders holds the same position that they did prior to the elections, only one of the Select Committee Chairmen is in the same position and there has been a significant amount of change amongst the senior management. The criticisms levelled at the previous administration will be taken on board, but I believe that even our most strident opponents should recognise that there has been a not insignificant degree of change and renewal over the past few months.

We recognise that mistakes were made by the previous administration – and we are determined not to repeat them, but we also recognise that in a number of areas the Council was performing very well. The 2008 Corporate Assessment Report acknowledged the ambition of Nick Skellett’s administration, the fact that we offered value for money and that “Outcomes for children and young people [were] generally good”. The previous administration have a lot to be proud of but we are not complacent, and we know that there is a lot of work to be done – but hard work is what this Conservative administration is all about. We have already announced several initiatives designed to deal with some of the problems Mr. Frater has spoken about, including the introduction of bursaries for social care students, whilst not forgetting to tackle those issues of pressing concerns to the public, such as speeding (hence the joint working with Surrey Police). This administration will be working hard to tackle the priorities of the residents and businesses of Surrey and we hope that in four years time the electorate will recognise that and be happy with our record”.

He went on to pose the following questions: “If the Lib-Dems are as concerned with Mr. Frater’s comments as they claim to be, why did none of their Group attend the Cabinet Meeting where the report was discussed? Why did they not ask any questions about it at the Cabinet Meeting? Why did they table no questions at the recent Council Meeting? The answers surely are that Surrey’s Lib-Dems are more interested with headlines and political point-scoring then with substance”.