Spelthorne Borough Council has been a staunch Conserva-tive authority for far more many decades than I care to remember. When I was selected as the new leader of the twenty-three Conservative Councillors elected in May 2015, I was confident we would remain the ruling polit-ical party. However, that was not to be and Con-servatives now find ourselves with no overall majority, yet the leading party with more than twice as many Councillors than any other group.
I also recognise this is not what you as residents voted for in the last election and you will no doubt feel let down by those members who have forsaken their political roots and now remain on the Council as independents with no real mandate or clear policies.
I for one, look forward to leading a more open, democratic, multi-party Council where all recognised political parties gain an increased involvement and become more active in driving forward a wider inclusive agenda.
Already since becoming Leader I have launched a number of new initiatives which will bring about a broader range of comments and will provide a positive opportunity for new and exciting ideas to come forward from different political points of view.
Amongst my first announcements has been to launch a number of key task groups including one to review the governance of the Council and possibly move it from a Leader and Cabinet model back to a Committee based system. I have launched new tasks groups to look at the Local Plan on Housing, Climate Change, on our Property Investments. I have also requested a review on the manner in which our financial reporting is undertaken. It’s vital Councillors and residents recognise the importance of everyone understanding clearly how we use and protect the public funds with which we are entrusted.
Most importantly I wish us to focus much more on listening to and working with residents in the Borough and push the focus more away from business building and investing in major commercial opportunities to developing and maintaining the services our residents really want.
We will be reviewing the plan to develop Staines-upon-Thames involving a much wider group of both Councillors and residents. We will listen to those local residents who wish to push for a reduced speed limit on smaller local roads – this is not only important for road safety issues, but also to contribute to our desire to become a carbon neutral Borough as soon as is practicably possible.
I am launching a new scheme to liaise more closely with recognised Residents Associations in the Borough to seek their points-of-view on a whole host of issues and would welcome input from individual residents on the things that matter to them most. There will be more announcements on our new ‘Residents Forums’ in the coming weeks.
Our biggest challenge by far however, is Surrey County Councils plan to turn the whole of the county into one single unitary authority. This is deeply concerning not only to Spelthorne but also the other ten Borough authorities in Surrey managing services on behalf of their residents. One single set of Councillors and one single town hall for 1.2 million residents will not provide true local democracy for anyone. Even the government themselves recognise unitary authorities should have as a maximum 300 to 500,000 residents to make it fair and equitable.
Surrey County Council and the its current Leader, Tim Oliver, who over recent years have made cuts to vital services in the county, are already using council tax payers money to pay financial consultants to investigate cost saving changes without any consultation with residents. I along with other Councillors, the Chief Executive and Senior Officers in Spelthorne are very much against the new proposal and we will be contacting residents to explain what it will mean to them and seek their views on the matter.
One key direct action I have already taken is to increase the grants each Councillor has at his or her discretion to support good causes in their own wards. With immediate effect each ward Councillor now has £1,500 to distribute. If you run a voluntary group or residents initiative or wish to improve areas of your ward please contact my fellow colleagues and they will can make every consideration to assist with some financial help.
I look forward to serving as Leader of this very special borough in these challenging times.