Following a call by the Lib Dems residents will no longer be requested to submit photographic identification when applying for a postal vote from Woking Borough Council.

Lib Dem Councillor Adam Kirby submitted a motion to secure simpler postal voting back in July. The motion was eventually approved by Councillors in October.

Surrey Lib Dems have backed a letter sent to the COP26 climate change summit signed by hundreds of local councillors across the country calling on more power for local government to tackle climate change.

Lance Spencer, spokesperson on climate change for the Surrey Lib Dems group said:

"What the country has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic will pale in comparison to the economic and social impacts of climate breakdown if we do not take action immediately. The latest UK Climate Risk Assessment concluded that the UK is "woefully underprepared" for the impacts of climate change that will hit the country.

"The UK's net zero targets can only be achieved if Government and local authorities work seamlessly together. More than half of the emissions cuts needed rely on people and businesses taking up low-carbon solutions - solutions around buildings, energy and transport - decisions that are made at a local and individual level.

8,376 low income households in Woking are paying too much for their broadband because the Government has not forced providers to offer cheaper tariffs, an analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found.

So-called 'social tariffs', which typically offer broadband access between £10 and £20 a month, are only currently offered by some providers. But changes to the law that came into force last year mean that the Government now has the ability to force broadband providers to offer these cheaper deals.

Only around 732 families in Surrey have been supported to better insulate their homes under the government's flagship Green Homes Grant scheme, new figures have revealed.

The scheme was meant to help people upgrade their homes to net-zero standards and cut their energy bills through fitting better insulation or heat pumps but was scrapped earlier this year after just six months. However, figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show how the scheme has failed families in the local area.

There was a hugely significant vote in Parliament today in which Woking's Tory MP voted to water down rules for dealing with MP sleaze and corruption.

Will Forster, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Woking, said:

"I think it is shameful that our local Conservative MP voted to water down rules aimed at preventing political sleaze. Jonathan Lord's constituents deserve better than this stitch up that is dragging our politics through the mud."

Small and medium-sized businesses from tech start-ups to hairdressers and cafes in Woking will pay an extra £4 million a year due to the rise in national insurance, research commissioned by the Lib Dems has found.

Boris Johnson broke his 2019 manifesto promise by raising employer National Insurance Contributions by 1.25%, impacting small businesses in Woking and across the country. House of Commons Library research has detailed the impact of the tax rises, and it is estimated that the average micro-business employing up to nine people will pay more than £1,000 extra a year as a result of the tax hike.

The Lib Dems have called on Woking Borough Council and other public authorities to move the local aggregates yard out of the town centre.

The Borough Council has started work on a £115 million project which would transform the area around Victoria Arch. The Council has already demolished much of 'The Triangle' of buildings in the A320 gyratory, and is planning to widen Victoria Arch and create a dual carriageway either side of the railway bridge.

My Lib Dem colleagues and I have called on the Government to double the Warm Home Discount for existing recipients and make it available to 168 more pensioners* across Woking. The measure would prevent pensioners being forced to "choose between eating and heating this winter", say the Lib Dems.

The call comes amid fears that local residents, particularly 1,222 pensioners on low incomes, could be at risk from the energy crisis this winter.

The Lib Dems have called Surrey County Council's draft County Deal for Surrey bid a 'power grab'.

The County Council is currently putting together a bid for more powers from central government as part of a County Deal for Surrey. However, there is growing concern that the County Deal bid is a simple power grab to enable the Council to become a unitary authority by the back door.