Andrew Povey continues to deliver a message, and record, of change and renewal (24th March)

At the meeting of Surrey County Council on 23rd March, Dr. Andrew Povey, Leader of Surrey County Council, announced a number of new initiatives and proposals for moving Surrey County Council forwards and delivering on the administration’s aims of making Surrey County Council ‘World Class’ and providing value for money.

Speaking afterwards Dr. Povey said;

“I believe that this Conservative administration can demonstrate our continued commitment to change for the better, and that we are a modern, reforming and caring Council.

We have demonstrated our commitment to the environment previously by adopting new solutions to Surrey’s waste and today I was able to announce the successful bidders for the Climate Change Fund for local projects. There were a diverse range of bids, and I was delighted that every Local Committee was able to suggest something positive for their local area.

On a similar basis I announced that there would be a £200,000 fund for helping disadvantaged areas of Surrey. As with the Climate Change Fund I am looking to Local Committees, who know their local areas and circumstances far better than anyone at County Hall, to submit bids to help out their local communities. We are committed to improving the quality of life for all areas of Surrey and to localism, and I believe that this initiative is a practical demonstration of those commitments.

My predecessor, Nick Skellett, was far-sighted in his establishment of Local Committees, but I would like to build on that work and take things further. I should like to reconstitute them as ‘Public Service Boards’ involving all relevant local authorities for any given part of Surrey as well as the Local Strategic Partnership and the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership. This will strengthen the ties between the police, health services, housing providers and the County, Borough, District and Parish/Town Councils for the benefit of local residents, local businesses and the local economy. Local solutions are the best solutions.

I was delighted that the Council passed Tim Hall’s motion on ‘opening up the books’ of the County Council so that our residents and local businesses can see where their monies are spent. I hope that this will increase the understanding of how the County Council’s finances work and allow people to see that we are more than happy to be open with the people we represent. It was a shame that the opposition Groups were not supportive of this move, but this merely serves to demonstrate that when it comes to the big decisions only Surrey’s Conservatives are prepared to take them.

Finally I was also able to announce that we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the regional CBI, and this, of course, follows on from our signing of the Engagement Accord with the Federation of Small Businesses, our decision to rejoin Visit Surrey and our continuing work to attract Olympic and Paralympic teams to Surrey for 2012. We recognise that a successful economy is essential for Surrey to fulfil its potential, and that successful Surrey is essential for the country to fulfil its potential.

Surrey County Conservatives will continue to push for a more economically vibrant county, for a county that protects its environment and for a county that protects the vulnerable”.