The Conservative Group at Surrey County Council have successfully passed a motion at a full Council meeting yesterday to reaffirm their commitment to closer resident engagement.

The Vice-Chairman of the Council, Helyn Clack, proposed the Council motion which rightly stated that the Council is “committed to enabling our residents, communities and local businesses to have a greater say over the issues that truly matter to them.” 

Conservative councillors supported the resolute motion, while the Liberal Democrats, Independents, and Residents Association disappointingly decided not to support local democracy, and not to give residents and communities more influence over local issues.

Surrey County Council Leader Tim Oliver said, “As I have said previously and consistently, what is most important to me, beyond any structural change or governance, is our residents, their priorities and giving them more influence over their own communities.”

The Leader added, “The important work we’ve done over the last few months will continue to be developed, including giving residents a greater say in the things that matter most to them. Working with residents and in conjunction with district and borough councils, we will create local community networks, so that residents can have real influence in their distinct, natural communities that they themselves recognise.”

Surrey County Council has a strong track record of partnership working and innate strengths and capacity within our communities and we wish to build on this. The Council has already made a good start, through Surrey’s Local Resilience Forum, our libraries transformation programme, our Greener Futures design challenge and through our recently agreed £100m Community Projects Fund.