Monthly Archives: Jun 2008

Lynne Featherstone congratulates her Three Faith 'ParliaMentors'

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Three young women from Christian, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds have graduated this month in the ‘ParliaMentors’ Programme under the tutelage of local MP, Lynne Featherstone.

The participants have met regularly over the academic year with Lynne Featherstone locally and in Parliament as part of a mentoring programme organised by the Three Faiths Forum. The aim of the scheme is to bring people of different faiths together and to inspire them to get involved in politics and social engagement.

Ms Featherstone looks forward to participating in next year’s scheme.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“It was a real pleasure to mentor these three ferociously talented young women from such diverse backgrounds.I have no doubt they will be going on to greater things, so watch this space.

“I am certain that their shared experience with people from different faiths will help them appreciate how much we have in common and what can be achieved together.

“I would encourage any undergraduates locally who are interested in this or any of the other mentoring programmes to contact the Three Faiths Forum.It really is a fantastic opportunity.”

First round in Parliament on the Equalities Bill

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Today’s the day! Or should have been. The Equalities Bill ”statement’ today in the House of Common chamber came after loads of leaks and media on the subject.

I can only assume that Ms Harman wanted the news agenda to herself – avoiding opposition criticism. Which is a shame – as the media have made great hay with the bit which will allow an employer who at interview has several equally qualified applicants – give the job to the one they feel fills a gap in the make up of their workforce. So – for example – if there was under-representation of male teachers in a primary school – and a woman and man both were equally qualified to get the job – the employer could decide to give the job to the man to improve the under-represented groups representation – without being sued. That’s the point. Previously it was against the law.

This is the bit that (in garbled and misleading form) grabbed the media attention, but the media have pretty much ignored the really good bit – that at the eleventh hour the Government included tackling age discrimination both in extending the equality duty on the public sector but also applying it to the provision of goods and services. Hurrah!

This is something that should have happened years and years ago – and you might ask – what changed the Government’s mind at the last moment? My current theory is – given that Labour may not be the Government when the costs of implementation come in – they decided to get it right as a sort of legacy – a farewell gift to equality and fairness. Well – I don’t know really – but hurrah! Older people have had the worst of treatment in the equality agenda – so three cheers!

However, the hawks in the cabinet have clearly won when it comes to tackling the private sector over their equality practises. The Government has baulked at any mandatory pay audits – and Harriet did not answer me when I asked at what point in the voluntary, softly softly approach to asking companies to publish their wages for employees so we can see the truth, the measures would become compulsory.

And there was lots more – but over the next seven months – we will be pushing the agenda as hard as we can. And I expect the Government to include many of our ‘asks’!

Today's news round up

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A few stories out in the newspapers today in which I feature:

Equalities Bill – the Guardian has coverage today, including:

The Liberal Democrat equality spokeswoman, Lynne Featherstone, said: “If the government genuinely wants to tackle equality, it must do more to end the growing discrepancy between the rules on pay for the public and private sector.

“Without compulsory pay audits for the private sector, these proposals will represent a very real victory for the hawks in the cabinet. Public sector equality rights are fast becoming an ivory tower that private sector employees can only dream of. A few tick-box questionnaires for government suppliers on their equality policy are going to do little to change the day-to-day opportunities for the 20 million people who work in the private sector.”

The future of the FAITH centre has been covered by the Hornsey Journal (blogged about here):

THE FIGHT to save a centre that supports disabled people in Wood Green has reached the 11th hour, campaigners fear.

Hornsey and Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone joined a protest over the planned closure of the FAITH (Further Advancement In Training in Haringey) Plant Centre, in Wolves Lane, last Friday.

She said: “The notification has come late. This is almost the 11th hour. Everyone has got to get a shifty on to make sure it doesn’t close before a rescue plan can be put into operation.”

The Journal’s also covered the case of a local resident and her parking fine:

A DISABLED resident is up in arms after a no parking sign pointing the wrong way left her £600 out of pocket.Elizabeth Bennett, of Highgate, could not see the sign when she parked in Southwood Avenue at 8.10am on Sunday, May 18, and was left with the hefty fine.

Lynne Featherstone, Hornsey and Wood Green, MP is fighting her corner demanding transport bosses review the fine and repair the sign.

Transport for London (TfL) has refunded the ticket and vowed that cars displaying blue disabled badges will never be removed.

Lynne Featherstone said: “Parking restrictions are a necessity but when they are applied without compassion there is something wrong.

“I understand how Mrs Bennett believed she was parking legally. And £600 is way off the scale of what is fair. TfL must act.”

Local MP congratulates students with winning formula

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Top chemistry prize-winning students at Highgate School were last week congratulated by local MP Lynne Featherstone as she tabled a parliamentary motion (EDM 1810) in their honour.

The winning team, consisting of students Charlie Bruce, Jack Saville, David Ooi and Max Jamilly won the national ‘Top of the Bench’ competition run by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The students excelled in the final at the Science Museum in April after proving themselves in both theory, research and a practical test.

Lynne Featherstone commented as she met up with the winners on Friday:

“I’m so impressed with these bright boys, it really is a fantastic achievement to win Top of the Bench; I know the competition was fierce.

“It’s also great to see how keen and interested the students are in chemistry. It’s such an important subject, but less and less students take it. That’s why competitions like Top of the Bench are so important, and I’m delighted to be able to do my bit by tabling this EDM. Well done guys!”

Single Equalities Bill about to be published

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Well – the much trailed Single Equalities Bill will be announced Wednesday or Thursday.

We know that dealing with discrimination based on age is in (hurrah) and there will be a public sector equality duty. Equality in provision of goods and services for the elderly will be staged – exact timing not sure.

Equal pay will be a biggee too – as there is still an unacceptable gap. We know the Government has baulked at mandatory pay audits in the private sector – so the hawks in the Cabinet won that one. Hope at the very least the Government does away with the requirement for a real comparator.

I am sure Gordon Brown promised that this type of stuff would be announced first to parliament – not leaked to the press. Wonder if he told Harriet that?

I suspect much of the Bill will be consensual – and we will all be glad when this magnum opus is completed. Much of it is tidying up and our discrimination law on the whole is pretty good. It’s making it stand up in the real world and changing culture that is the barrier. Still – it’s important to have the law to hang the behaviour around…

Play suspended in Fortis Green

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Fortis Green will not be hearing cries of ‘Anyone for tennis?’, with unwelcome restrictions on a local tennis court.

Following the closure of the tennis club on Twyford Avenue in Fortis Green, local residents fought and won access to one tennis court through an agreement between Haringey Council and the developers. However, houses in the development are now being advertised with a ‘private’ tennis court, which has alarmed the local residents who were looking forward to playing tennis again.

After investigation by Liberal Democrat councillor Matt Davies, it has been revealed that although the original permission included wider access to a tennis court, a second agreement with Haringey Council failed to have a similar clause – which means local tennis players face exclusion.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Matt Davies (Fortis Green) comments:

“With Wimbledon getting into full swing, more people are interested in being involved in tennis. The loss of the tennis club was very unfortunate and something that we fought against. But the single court being available to residents in the area was a crumb of comfort – it now seems as if even that crumb is disappearing.

“It looks like we may now need to rely on the developers keeping their word, which they gave at the Committee hearing. But having to rely on that, rather than Haringey Council ensuring effective legal back-up, doesn’t seem to be a very satisfactory situation.”

Intergenerational mobility

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Intergerational mobility – or lack of it. I am speaking on a panel at the end of a day’s conference for specialists, academics and the like about the fact that social mobility is less now than 30 years ago. If you’re born poor you will die poor – is the basic message.

For me the big issue is the widening equality gap and how bad that is for everyone. Countries with less of a gap between rich and poor do better, are happier and so on. Conclusions (mine) that we are still relatively class ridden society who look down their noses at vocational education (not me!) and we would do well to take a leaf out of the Netherland’s school structures. And yes – 0 – 5 years is crucial – but so are second chances. Damn the government for taking away funding for a second degree later in life. That removed so many second chances – and hey ho – hits women (often single mothers) returning to work and advancing themselves.

If I could commission one government IT project

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That’s the topic of my (first!) posting today over at Liberal Conspiracy:

I’ve been pretty critical of two massive government IT projects – the existing plans to introduce mandatory identity cards with a huge database behind them and also the Home Office talk of a database of all phone calls and emails made anywhere in the country.

My criticisms in both cases are three-fold: the money involved could be better spent on other projects (such as giving us more police rather than keeping huge databases of the activities of innocent people), they involve a huge infringement of our liberties and privacy, and – thirdly – big IT projects like this are likely to go wrong and to be vulnerable to misuse.

But I’m not a Luddite. Over time I’ve found embracing IT innovations has made my life easier and made me more efficient – whether it was years ago buying a laser printer to speed up production of casework letters or more recently starting to use the text-messaging based blogging service Twitter to help keep residents informed of what I’m up to as an MP.

Indeed, the idea of organising information in an efficient way so that it helps people make decisions and find out what’s going on is fundamentally a very liberal approach – getting computer code to do the heavy lifting so that individuals can find out and act.

So this has got me thinking – if I could commission just one IT project from government, what would it be?

You can read the rest of the piece here and there’s an interesting response over at Puffbox.

Liberal Democrats back campaign to save FAITH plant centre

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FAITH Plant centre, a Wood Green based garden centre where adults with learning difficulties volunteer and gain essential life skills, was on Friday visited by Local MP Lynne Featherstone and Cllr Richard Wilson, Health and Adult Social Services spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats following news that the centre might have to close.

Ms Featherstone and Cllr Wilson joined concerned volunteers, staff and parents in protest as news emerged that Livability, the charity which runs the centre, has been unable to find new funding. The Liberal Democrats are now calling on Haringey Council to step in with temporary funding whilst searching for new permanent solutions to keep the much loved and treasured centre open.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“This centre is clearly a unique place. The people who use the centre gain skills that will really help them in life.It is clear from talking to the users and volunteers how important the services are and how much they love coming here. These are vital services that Haringey Council should be really interested in preserving. Labour needs to urgently think how to save this service.”

Richard Wilson adds:

“This centre plays a vital role in the local community, provides education for school children, and grows many of the plants for parks all over the Borough. As Haringey Council owns the centre, and has council staff working in the nursery and cafe, it really does have a duty to step in and make sure this centre doesn’t close.”