Tag Archives: Surrey County Council

Surrey County Council’s poor performance

It is a challenging time to be standing for election as a Surrey County Councillor. The council itself has significant challenges. In the past few years, note:

  • Failure to deliver some of the most basic services (Failed Ofsted inspection of Children’s Services, Failed HMI inspection of Fire and Rescue, cuts to local highway budget)
  • Poor Financial Management (CIPFA Report)
  • Cuts to Services
  • High spending on high level permanent and interim staff and the rejection of an RA/Independent proposal for the open monitoring of the high salary costs
  • Additional allowances for Conservative councillors

There has never been a greater need for Independent councillors who are able to scrutinise and challenge decisions free from party politics.   

The council is composed of 81 elected Councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Partyy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrey_County_Council has held the majority- there are currently 59 Conservatives, 9 Independent/Residents Assoc, 9 Lib Dems, 1 Labour, 1 Green. And, 1 vacant seat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrey_County_Council

I am contesting the vacant seat.

More detailed reading below:

December 2018 CIPFA Criticism

Residents will no doubt be aware of the poor state of Surrey County Council’s finances.  It is of course partly the result the Government’s reduction of the grant funding allocated to the County Council, but an independent Report by the well-respected Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), and commissioned by SCC itself, has severely criticised the County Council for its financial management and budget planning. https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/surrey-county-council-faces-unbridgeable-15161504 

January 2019 SCC Fire & Rescue service declared Inadequate

Following on from the 2018 Ofsted Report which severely criticised SCC’s Children’s Services as failing, an Inspection by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has reported that SCC’s Fire and Rescue service is “Inadequate” at efficiently keeping people safe, and is failing to make the best use of its resources.  This is further worrying evidence of a council failing in the delivery of some of the basic services which it is legally required to provide. https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/surrey-fire-rescue-rated-inadequate-15575032

February 2019 Spending on High Level Temporary Staff

At a time of cuts to services it is interesting to note that over the past year SCC has spent almost £2.5 million on temporary and interim staff, mostly on high level salaries.  In one case SCC paid a recruitment company over £294k “to source and manage an interim Adult Social Care director” for a year.

Council Meeting March 2019

Conservatives voted down an RA/Independent recommendation to “amend the Terms of Reference of the People, Performance and Development Committee to provide for the monitoring of the costs of senior management salaries, interim appointments and redundancies” thus rejecting openness and transparency in regard to senior management pay.

Budget 2019 Included

  • Closure of Children’s Centres
  • Additional charges for household waste – construction wood and roofing felt, despite concerns over am increase in fly tipping
  • The free travel concession for disabled pass holders will no longer start at 9.00am but will in future start at 9.30am on weekdays, all day at weekends and on bank holidays
  • Further cuts to the local highway budget, the money allocated to fund locally determined highway maintenance work & improvements. So more bad news for our highways

Children’s Services rated as Inadequate by OFSTED in May 2018

SCC was rated inadequate for its services supporting children “who need help and protection”, and in leadership, management and governance. In its 2017 report, SCC was told “a number of children in Surrey who have been at risk of serious harm were not assessed, helped or protected quickly enough”. https://www.eagleradio.co.uk/news/local-news/2373475/serious-weaknesses-found-in-surrey-childrens-services/

May 2018 Surrey County Conservatives Vote Themselves More Money

At the May 2018 Surrey County Council Meeting, the Conservatives voted to create four new Deputy Cabinet Member posts to be filled by Conservative county councillors, with an allowance each of £10,000.  In addition, and despite an Independent Review Panel recommendation that allowances be not paid to all Committee Vice Chairmen, the Conservatives also decided that they should continue to be paid.

In 2013, Haslemere voted for its first ever Independent Councillor for Surrey County Council.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Surrey_County_Council_election

Vote for Nikki Barton to turn that bottom corner of South West Surrey white again.

(Press release from SCC RA/Independent Group re council budget cuts).

Surrey Residents are dissatisfied with road maintenance

This is a shocking stat (i):

When I was Haslemere’s Surrey County Councillor (2013-2017), I did not only fall back on the online reporting system and wait for potholes to be repaired. Rather, I worked with the highways team to negotiate funds for proper road repairs especially where the potholes were potholes on potholes. I also did regular cycle tours of the town to report potholes.

Here are a few examples of how my intervention helped directly with road repairs:

Funding from Waverley Local Area Committee was found to repair the following roads (ii)

• Sturt Road – £22,900 (including drainage repairs under the railway bridge)

• Lower Street at the junction with Sandrock – £23,367

• Kings Road near the entrance to The Herons leisure centre – £19,730; and

• High Lane – £14,217.

I arranged a full repair of a potholed section of College Hill (iii)

I arranged a full repair of the road outside St Bartholomew’s School. This road was unadopted but I felt it was important to repair the road – it was in a state of poor repair and it fronted a local authority school. I had discovered that the then Leader of the Surrey County Council had enabled a road repair in his constituency outside a state school and I used this as a precedent in my negotiation.

Following extensive discussions with SCC highways Wey Hill was fully resurfaced.  It was surprising to discover that Wey Hill was not included in the major Project Horizon road repair program. I worked with the Surrey County Council Highways team who agreed that the extremely poor condition of the road warranted a full repair. (iv)

If elected again, I will continue to do road surveys with SCC Highways and I will do my best to be innovative about getting potholes repairs.

Candidate Profile for SCC By-Election for Haslemere on the Democracy Club Website

I have uploaded my candidate profile for Surrey County Council’s by-election for Haslemere on 2nd May 2019 on the Democracy Club website.

You can read it via this link: https://candidates.democracyclub.org.uk/person/55186/nikki-barton …

Nikki Barton Campaign Image 2019

Surrey County Council is responsible for so much that affects our daily lives – social care, health, highways, schools & learning, libraries, waste and recycling. Budgets are being slashed. Key services are under threat. Haslemere needs a councillor to show up and champion our town.

When I was County Councillor (2013 – 2017), I threw myself into the role with energy, and a deep commitment to serve the community with passion, transparency and engagement. I worked hard, listened and built trust.

Here are some of my achievements: www.haslemerefirst.com/achievements.
If elected again as your Surrey County Councillor,

· Haslemere will regain an independent voice at county level – community before politics
· I will promote openness and transparency – I believe in the power of accountability
· I will fight for Haslemere’s fair share of those scarce resources

By submitting your postcode, you can view biographies of all candidates for this by-election.

Leaflet Deliveries Began This Week In Haslemere

A very big thank you to all the volunteers who have been out helping to deliver leaflets this week.

Here is a scanned copy of my leaflet

Front page of campaign leaflet
Inside pages of campaign leaflet
Back page of campaign leaflet

The back page of my leaflet is a copy of my letter here published in the Haslemere Herald.

If you could deliver leaflets in the road where you live, please take a look at my campaign page here.

A Time To Reflect

I’ve spent the day planning campaign content (themes for blog posts and story boards for video) for the next four weeks and I remembered this from two years ago. When I stood in the by-election for Haslemere Town Council in May 2017, a friend had helped me put together this short video:

I said:

My name is Nikki Barton and I moved to Haslemere South just over ten years ago with my young family, my three lovely daughters, and I quickly realised what a very special community it was.

I’ve been very involved in the community over the years.

I started a walking bus for St Bart’s schoolchildren to help them get to school more safely.

I became a governor of St Bart’s School and then I discovered that Surrey County Council were planning to put parking meters throughout the High Street and along the other principle roads in his town. I led a successful challenge against that introduction of meters.

I’ve also been involved with setting up the Haslemere Vision, the neighbourhood plan and I’ve also served for four years as the independent County Council for Haslemere.

As Surrey County Councillor, I initiated quite a few projects around the town a key one was the Haslemere Community Rail Partnership which is set up at the station to try and promote the town and all the wonderful things that happen in the town and the countryside around.

If I was elected to represent Haslemere South in the town council I would continue to champion Haslemere as I have done through my four years as an independent County Councillor.

I’ve never been afraid to speak up for the town and pursue the principles of openness and transparency and community engagement.

Another key concern for me is the scrutiny for finance at the Town Council level and also that we look at what we value in the town.

There are several key issues that are of key concern at the moment for example traffic speeds and road safety in the town and that’s something very dear to my heart.

We’re also facing some severe challenges with the loss of potentially both of our post offices, the closure of the Marjorie Gray dementia day care centre and the cuts really to some essential services. We lost our youth worker for example and I really feel that the Town Council could have a huge role to play in looking at some of those key issues.

Looking again at that video, it’s a good moment to reflect on three proud successes for the community to celebrate. All were mentioned in that video two years ago. The dementia day care centre was saved and is now The Hunter Centre, still located on the Grayswood Road and the community post office that used to be located in The Coop was saved by the community and relocated to Haslewey. The Haslemere Community Rail Partnership has gained more recognition and is going to extend with the team’s help to other stations along the Portsmouth line.

I’ve enjoyed being a councillor for the past 6 years. This is what key people have said about my involvement in the community:

Nikki Barton was a strong supporter of the local community and to me personally here in Haslemere in January 2017 when the Alzheimer’s Society decided to close the Dementia Day Care Centre where my husband and many others suffering from Dementia attended. Nikki recognised our local vision for the need to help keep this valuable service for Clients and Carers. She voiced our concerns at meetings at both local and County levels and stood beside those of us who were determined to keep this service operational. Without her unwavering encouragement, support and negotiating expertise, we would not have had the voice to bring about the opening of a new thriving Community Charity for dementia care in Haslemere, The Hunter Centre. I am proud to support and recommend Nikki as an Independent Candidate for SCC. Margaret Barlow, Trustee – The Hunter Centre

With no party line to follow and, as someone living within the ward she is hoping to represent, Nikki has a proven track record of not only listening to the views of the community but, where necessary, taking appropriate action. A true community player with no hidden agenda, who I know will truly and honestly represent the issues and concerns of the people of Haslemere. Ken Griffiths, AKA Community Ken

Please click on this link to read more testimonials. There are no constraints to being an Independent councillor. As long as you put Haslemere first, you can achieve great successes.

I am planning to produce more videos for my 2019 campaign for the Surrey County Council and Haslemere Town Council elections.

Would you like join my campaign? As an Independent, I have no party machine to fund or manage my campaign. Read here to see how you can help.

My Promise

My letter published in The Haslemere Herald announcing that I am standing as an Independent candidate in the Surrey County Council by-election on 2nd May 2019.

Dear Sir/Madam,

My Promise

‘Anger at absentee councillors’ was a shocking headline on your front page last month.  I believe it is totally unacceptable when councillors, who are paid out of our taxes, do not engage to serve the community that elected them.

It really matters because Surrey County Council is responsible for so much that affects our daily lives.  At this critical time when budgets are being slashed and key services are under threat, Haslemere needs councillors who are willing to show up and stand up for their community free from party politics – councillors who will actively lobby for Haslemere’s fair share of those scarce resources because their only priority is putting Haslemere first.

In 2013 I took the decision to stand as Haslemere’s first Independent County Councillor.  Many people thought this was a waste of time because every single Haslemere councillor at town, borough and county levels was a Conservative.  My determination came from my experience in the successful campaign to stop Surrey’s plan to put parking meters throughout our town, hurting local businesses, schools and churches.   I had been shocked by the lack of openness and transparency at meetings where (one) party politics dominated.

Winning the election was a ground-breaking moment, and a great honour.  I threw myself into the role with energy, and a deep commitment to serve the community with passion, transparency and engagement.  I worked hard, listened and built trust.  I hope readers of The Herald might take the time to read about my activities here: www.haslemerefirst.com/achievements.

As my youngest daughter prepared for secondary school, I decided to fill a seat on the town council rather than continuing at the county level.  But it was disheartening to watch as my successor’s absence meant that the relationships and momentum I had built for the town were being wasted.  Haslemere deserves better.

I have therefore decided to stand for election once again as an Independent candidate for Haslemere.

My priorities if elected again as your Surrey County Councillor will be:

·       to ensure Haslemere has an independent voice at county level to best represent its interests – I believe in putting community before politics

·       to promote openness and transparency within local government – I believe in the power of accountability

·       to fight for a fair allocation of funding for Haslemere in times of austerity – I believe in standing up for the needs of our community

Above all, I promise to put Haslemere first!

Yours faithfully

Nikki Barton

Haslemere’s Independent candidate for Surrey County Council

Scotland Lane

Haslemere

Surrey Pothole update from @SurreyCouncil

Yesterday evening, I shared this tweet from Eber Kington an Independent Surrey County Councillor:

This morning, Haslemere Town Councillors received this pothole update from Colin Kemp, Cabinet Member for Highways at Surrey County Council. I thought it would be helpful to share, with a reminder of how to report potholes:

From: Colin Kemp CLR <colin.kemp@surreycc.gov.uk>
Sent: 31 January 2018 22:12:22
To: £Members All Councillors
Subject: short note of pothole situation

Dear all

This time of year normally sees an increase in the reports of defects and potholes on the highway due to the wet and cold weather. This type of weather is anticipated during Winter and resources are put in place to manage any peaks in defect numbers The beginning of this year has seen an unusually high number defects and potholes. The repair gangs have recently been working extra shifts throughout the week and weekend to keep up with the number of defects being reported and we have now added some additional gangs to provide some further resilience in the short term.  We also have a jet patching machine out and about which carries out a rapid repair treatment.  This type of repair will be mainly used on targeting potholes on some of our residential roads.

Although your local highways teams do their best to monitor their areas and spot any defects, there is over 3000 miles of road in Surrey so they/we need your help. If you see a pothole on the network then please use the Report it function on the SCC website.  From here you can also see if someone has already reported a defect by zooming in on the map when trying to ‘locate the problem’.

Thank you in advance for your help and patience.

Colin Kemp

Cabinet Member for Highways

Surrey County Councillor Horsell West & Goldsworth East

Woking Borough Councillor for Horsell

Tel: 07889 289177

 

Cabinet Senior PA: Isabella Nye-Meredith

Tel 020 8541 7208

Email Isabella.nyemeredith@surreycc.gov.uk

Tesco Traffic lights, Haslemere

I’ve had several emails about problems with phasing of traffic lights by Tesco’s. The current problems with the timings of the TESCO traffic lights are due to 2 faults:

  1. A detector fault, Surrey County Council is waiting for contractors to investigate today or tomorrow. This may explain the signals “favouring” the side roads.
  1. The MOVA unit at the lights is not working. A new unit has been ordered and may take 2 weeks to be installed.  The MOVA unit varies the green time according to traffic flow.  It does not really have set timings as such apart from the inter-green times (safety time period between conflicting greens) and the Green Man times.  MOVA monitors traffic and pedestrian demand on each approach and apportions the green time around the junction to allow traffic and pedestrians to pass through the junction as efficiently as possible.  It detects gaps in the approaching traffic and will trigger the signals to change just as the last vehicle crosses the Stop Line.  However, if any of the detectors are faulty the signals will keep giving priority to the affected approach.

UPDATE on 6th April 2017 regarding repair:

Repairs have been carried out on the faulty TESCO lights- The MOVA unit was installed last week and Surrey County Council (SCC) attended yesterday (5th April)  and uploaded the dataset, enabling MOVA.  The faulty detector was repaired on Friday (31at March).

It does seem to be running pretty well so far, but I’d be grateful for any resident feedback following the repairs for me to pass on to SCC highways. 

Road Safety Improvements – Lion Lane, Haslemere – scheduled for 31st March

Please read here the resident letter re. road safety improvements in Lion Lane, Haslemere. The letters are due to be delivered 23/03/17.

This is the preparation work for the pedestrian crossing outside Shottermill infant School.

NB Lion Lane Haslemere
The works are scheduled to start on 31/03/17.  Sometimes our plans have to change, often due to bad weather or problems on other works in the same programme which can have a knock on effect. If anything changes with the details of these works, we will let you know.

You and your residents can also find up to date details of the works on www.surreycc.gov.uk/roadworks

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on 0300 200 1003 or email works.communication@surreycc.gov.uk.