Since my maiden speech in Parliament, I have consistently fought for a fairer deal for local funding for local services, given our community needs and the high levels of tax we pay.

Yesterday, I secured a debate on Surrey Police funding, backed forcefully by my fellow Surrey MPs and joined by the Policing Minister, Nick Herbert. You can read the debate here, which gives a good sense of the uphill struggle we have in getting a fairer deal for local funding across the board, both in straitened economic times and under the constraints of coalition.

I am hopeful, however, that we will safeguard the so-called ‘damping’ arrangements that mitigate the impact in Surrey of the skewed Whitehall funding formula – which, if lost, would cost Surrey Police £4 million from its budget.