Councillor Tim Oliver is using his business skills and experience to help Surrey County Council generate much-needed extra income.
The Elmbridge Conservative group leader was elected a county councillor for Weybridge in May and was swiftly appointed to the Surrey cabinet as the Portfolio Holder for Property and Business.
Tim founded his a multi-million pound legal services firm and was once the Chairman of Shooting Star Chase Hospice Trust. He will be tasked with using his skills to generate savings and income for the council in these challenging economic times.
As Portfolio Holder Tim is responsible for the back office functions at County Hall, such as Human Resources, IT and procurement. He will also oversee the refurbishment of redundant council buildings, bringing them back into use as housing to meet the demand for homes and provide a welcome rental income for SCC, which has to find an additional £107m savings this year.
He said: "It’s a huge honour to be asked to take on a Cabinet position and assist in tackling the big challenges facing Surrey. There are significant restrictions on what Local Government can do – we can’t use capital to subsidise revenue so a solution is to invest in good quality buildings to provide long term income. Without these strategic investments we will not be able to deliver services."
Tim is concerned by the unfair national funding formula which hugely disadvantages Surrey. As our residents live longer, the cost of adult social care is rising by around £24m each year – yet grants from Whitehall have declined by £170m since 2010 and continue to fall. Surrey Conservatives are continuing to lobby the Conservative government for a fairer settlement.