Greens win amendments to Surrey County Council budget to benefit safety, roads and nature

The move is unusual since budget amendments by opposition parties would normally have been requested and debated at the council meeting today (February 3) but the Greens successfully asked for the amendments in advance, at the Cabinet meeting last Tuesday (January 27).

There are five agreed amendments:

Restored funding for the Greener Futures Programme, to allow delivery of net zero programmes and a Surrey Climate Adaptation Plan, including work already begun to make schools more climate resilient. This reverses a cut of £500,000 (around 28%) proposed by the Conservatives.

• A full review of current Digital Demand Responsive Transport (Surrey Connect) usage and data to explore how bus services – including DDRT, fixed bus routes, community transport and home-to-school transport – can be sustainable. And a reinstated £1.5m to continue subsidising commercial buses at 2025/26 levels – because DDRT should be an addition to, not a substitute for, existing fixed bus routes. This will avoid further situations where bus services in some areas were cut in order to extend the services in other places: robbing Peter to pay Paul.
• An increase of two staff for the team that makes road safety improvements outside schools – this means a backlog of work can be dealt with and there will be no delays to safety measure implementation in the run-up to the new unitary authority taking over.
• A ring-fenced budget of £1 million for the maintenance of concrete roads, which account for up to 10% of Surrey’s roads. Previously, there was no separate budget for concrete roads – which need different materials for repairs – meaning their condition has been getting worse and there was no cohesive plan for how to improve them.
• Funding to support community reduce and reuse, repair and related initiatives, to reduce the total amount household waste Surrey County Council has to dispose of. And to consider a wider programme of collaborations with public and private sector across Surrey. These could include a Re:Surrey initiative, replicating that rolled out in London, where commercial organisations play a more active role in responsible waste management to strive for a circular economy. Most waste is commercial, industrial, construction and demolition waste; municipal waste accounts only for around a sixth of all waste produced in Surrey.

The total cost of the five amendments will be £2.1 million.

Cllr Jonathan Essex (Green, Redhill East) said: “Having lost their overall majority, the Conservatives knew they needed support from other parties to pass the budget.

“Rather than wait to shout from the sidelines at full council to try to get changes agreed at the last minute, the Greens, in collaboration with independent councillors, proactively submitted sensible, practical, fully costed and thought-through amendments in advance, as part of the established budget process.

“We were happy to support the overall budget in return for getting our amendments approved and we are delighted the Conservatives support the Green and independent councillor proposals to improve life for residents – including for children – and to improve Surrey’s transport and the environment.”

At today’s meeting, Cllr Essex said: “This budget is not perfect, especially as it still leaves a gaping hole in special needs school provision and the Tories are spending an extra £10 million on cutting grass verges while we witness nature diminish.

“But I recognise that the financial circumstances are challenging and, given the concessions made on our five key points, the Greens support this amended budget.”