 
                
        
        Lib Dems select candidates for triple by-election in Addlestone
Meet your local Lib Dem team standing in the Addlestone by-elections on 21st August 2025!
 
                
        
         
                
        
        Meet your local Lib Dem team standing in the Addlestone by-elections on 21st August 2025!
 
                
        
        Surrey's Conservative leader is trying to rewrite history as his council faces dissolution - but families across our county know the real story of Tory failure
 
                
        
        Runnymede Borough Council has launched an exciting new £1.3 million fund that will directly benefit local residents through improved infrastructure and enhanced public spaces across the borough.
 
                
        
        How the Liberal Democrat leader's deeply personal approach to politics is already making a difference locally
 
                
        
        After years of advocacy by Liberal Democrat councillors, Runnymede Borough Council has finally introduced live streaming for council meetings, making local democracy more accessible to residents across the borough.
 
                
        
        Runnymede Borough Council's innovative financial inclusion project has delivered remarkable results since its launch in April 2024, helping vulnerable residents manage debt while recovering in excess of £1.5 million for the council.
Parking charges of £1.30 per hour, with a maximum charge of £5.00 per day, were introduced in the car parks on Surrey County Council's Countryside Estate, including those at Norbury Park, on 6 August 2018 despite significant opposition from local residents. Previously there was no charge.
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have criticised the ruling Conservative administration for recruiting a new "Business Manager" post, on a salary of more than £43,000, when at the same time planning hundreds of staff redundancies and millions of pounds of cuts to front line services.
Liberal Democrat county councillors are calling for Surrey County Council to make urgent financial preparations following a recent judgement in Bristol in which a group of parents successfully challenged Bristol City Council's decision to make deep cuts in special educational needs (SEND) provision. Parents in Surrey have launched a similar judicial review challenging the County Council on cuts to its SEND budget of £21m, which will be heard in October this year.
Surrey County Council has commissioned a second report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) to review its financial resilience. This follows a report commissioned in December 2016, costing nearly £25,000, which warned that the financial position of the County Council was "extremely worrying" and that "it is risk of becoming financially unsustainable".
County Councillors in Surrey have agreed that children's mental health and special needs provision should be the subject of detailed study in partnership with universities and others so that current and future demand for these services can be met. Cllr Chris Botten, Leader of the Lib Dems at SCC moved an amended motion at yesterday's Council meeting, which was passed unanimously, calling for future needs to be understood in the context of current unacceptable waiting lists for CAMHS treatment and a severe shortage of SEND places in the County.
Liberal Democrat county councillors are calling for urgent improvements to Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services, known as CAMHS, in the county. Surrey County Council currently commissions these services from Surrey & Borders NHS Trust but there has been strong criticism of the long waiting times for routine assessments and appointments. Liberal Democrat county councillors have tabled a motion on CAMHS to be discussed at Council next week.
 
                
        
        The contaminated blood scandal is one of the gravest injustices in NHS history. We must honour victims with recognition, dignity, and compensation – and ensure no one ever suffers from such injustice again.
 
                
        
        Years of Conservative cuts have hollowed out the legal aid system, leaving millions without access to timely legal advice. Our new policy will legal aid a guaranteed right, ensure no one is left without help.
![New Homes [Image: Tim Prater]](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/a/csm_newhomes_23c101933f.jpg) 
                
        
        Millions of people are still trapped in England’s broken leasehold system. Our plan will end the leasehold rip-off, strengthen building safety, and give residents the control, fairness, and dignity they deserve in their own homes.