Last night, Surrey County Council held a question time-type event called ‘Have Your Say’ in Dorking Halls. The panel was made up of Andrew Povey (Council Leader) and representatives from the Surrey Strategic Partnership including Health, Police, Business Leaders etc. The event was hosted by BBC Radio Surrey.
I joined other UNISON colleagues handing out anti-cuts leaflets as people went in. I then joined the meeting.
Around 500 residents of Surrey attended and topics ranged from Potholes to Recycling, from Policing to Health Services. A question was read out from Ian (Shortwood Governor) asking if the council was committed to preserving Infants Schools like Shortwood. Andrew Povey was ambiguous in his answer but did say that ‘some school just get too small to be viable’.
I raised questions about the range of cuts proposed by the council (such as the recent leak about Fire Service cuts) and the impact this will have on services, such as those for vulnerable adults.
I did get a chance to catch up before the meeting with Denise (our local councillor who sits on the cabinet which will have the final decision) to talk about Shortwood and she assured me she supported the school remaining open but that we will have to demonstrate that numbers will rise and remain viable in the medium to long term. I think you have all done that admirably.
Paul Couchman
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Parliamentary Candidate for Spelthorne
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Filed under: Have your say..., Political Support Tagged: | save shortwood infant school, Surrey County UNISON
