This is often the season when we pause and reflect on the year that has been, and look ahead to the next. We all need to work to make 2024 a better year than 2023.

Locally, I and my fellow Liberal Democrat councillors will continue to bring honesty and integrity back to Woking Borough Council, and make you proud of your borough once more. The road ahead will not be easy but we promise to keep your concerns at the forefront of our decision-making.

Nationally, I know you are worried about the cost of living, climate change and the collapse of public services, such as our crumbling NHS.

Further proof of this is the revelation that almost £79 million is needed to fix Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital.

New analysis by the Lib Dems has found that  Woking’s hospitals need £78,942,798 to clear their repair backlogs. This comes as the amount needed for hospital repairs across the country reached a record high of £11.6 billion, up over £1bn on this time last year.

The Lib Dems are calling for the government to provide urgent investment in local hospital buildings to ensure they are safe and can function effectively.

The challenges we face, both nationally and locally, transcend party politics. We each have a role to play in making our future better, and I want to work with you on those issues that matter to you.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped make this year that little bit easier, including the amazing council staff, local charities and residents’ groups who are stepping up to help. 

As well as wishing people well over the Christmas period, I want to use this week’s column to talk about an issue very relevant this time of year and one close to my heart: homelessness.

When I was Woking’s Mayor, I chose our local homeless shelter, the York Road Project, as my mayoralty charity. I was pleased to raise money for them and raise awareness of their cause.

The Lib Dems and I have called for a ban on no-fault evictions over Christmas, as government data from 2022-23 shows that 73 households were placed at risk of homelessness in Woking borough as a result of a Section 21 notice, which is used by landlords for no-fault evictions.

Families in Woking are facing a nightmare before Christmas. 

With the cost-of-living crisis putting intolerable pressure on finances, a shocking number of households could find themselves on the streets over the festive period.

Instead of taking urgent steps to prevent homelessness before it happens, this heartless government has kicked the ban on no-fault evictions into the long grass and introduced measures to criminalise rough sleeping.

We need to see an emergency ban on no-fault evictions over the festive period and a compassionate approach to rough sleeping to make sure no family in Woking is left out in the cold this Christmas.

However you spend this time of year, I wish you all a merry Christmas and hope you have a happy and healthy new year.