Category Archives: Blog

Should magistrates Twitter?

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Sorry to see that the twittering magistrate in Shropshire has felt the need to resign after someone complained about his use of Twitter to send out messages about the legal system.

For me, Steve Molyneux hasn’t done anything wrong – he didn’t Twitter whilst sitting in court hearing a case and the only information he gave out was in the public domain. But he was doing something right – helping demystify our legal system and bring the public and the system a little bit closer together. We need more of that, not less.

Good can yet come of this – and I hope those in the judicial system will seize the opportunity to lay down some guidelines – guidelines which encourage magistrates to use Twitter and other technologies (blogs come to mind in particular) to help explain to us all how our legal system works.

What's coming in the Equalities Bill?

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So – the long, long, long awaited Equalities Bill has arrived. As usual, media first – Parliament second. Published last Friday but embargoed until Monday – presumably so other parties can’t get hands on it to comment. I thought Harriet Harman was better than that – but given her office has refused to brief me or meet with me – should have known.

The man who wrote the book on equalities – Lord Lester – will be leading on the Bill in the Lords for the Liberal Democrats – but in the Commons, that job falls to me.

I notice that the Government has made a huge fanfare over its stance on pay audits. From the media it sounds as if mandatory pay audits will be introduced for large firms, but I suspect from the details it will be the same as before – voluntary for five years and then possibly mandatory after that. We will see when the details are finally unveiled to one and all!

Mandatory pay audits would be a really effective way of adding pressure to end discrimination in pay between men and women – as you can see from the example of Cambridge University. Their audit highlighted some big differences in pay – and so gave me the grounds to refer them to the Equalities Commission whilst also causing the university to hared down to Parliament to justify what they are doing – all in the knowledge that with this in the public domain, things can’t just be brushed under the carpet or not talked about.

The other ‘announcement’ in the Bill is a public duty to reduce the equality gap between rich and poor. Very laudable – the equality gap is widening and if you look at stats around the world you see that those countries that have less of a gap do much better on every scale – including happiness! The Tories will term this class war. I would say that the ambition is right but the methodology is wrong. Or rather – the equality gap should be narrowed – but by bringing the bottom up without lessening the universal services and their standards that all are entitled.

Education spending cuts come to Haringey

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Our local sixth forms are having their funding cut by £587,547, which is the equivalent to the funding for eighty-one pupils.

This is part of the fallout from the blunder made by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which has caused a national shortfall in post-16 education funding. The LSC’s mistake was exposed earlier this month when schools and colleges were told their budgets would be slashed, despite having been told in March what their funding would be be for the next academic year. Not a good way of doing budgeting!

HGV ban and traffic calming consultations to start at last

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Good news as, to quote the press release from a few days ago:

After a six-year campaign local Liberal Democrats in Alexandra ward have welcomed the announcement last week of the start of consultations on the introduction of a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) ban and traffic calming measures.

From 14th April until 12th May local residents in the Palace Gates triangle area will be asked their opinion on traffic calming, including a 20mph limit and an HGV ban in the local area. Also in April local residents in the rest of the affected area will be consulted on the plan to ban HGVs.

For many years residents have been plagued by noise and vibration caused by HGV drivers taking shortcuts down small residential streets. The HGV exclusion area proposed stretches from Muswell Hill Broadway in the west, to Dukes Avenue in the south, to Alexandra Park Road/Albert Road in the north and Crescent Road in the east. The ban does not include Muswell Hill Broadway, Alexandra Park Road or Durnsford Road.

Cllr Susan Oatway, Alexandra ward, who brought together local residents, Haringey Council and private haulage companies, comments:

“The fact that this has taken six years to get to the consultation stage is testament to the shear perseverance of local residents, including the hard work of the Palace Gates and Dukes Avenue Residents’ Association, to rid our local streets of the menace of HGVs. We have all worked together to make Haringey Council and private companies sit up and listen.

“For too long local people have had to endure large lorries clogging the streets and thundering down roads.

“When you get the document through your door, please respond, and come to the exhibition if you have any questions.”

Lynne Featherstone MP, adds:

“This is a victory for the local community. Thanks should also go to Susan Oatway who has tirelessly supported local residents in their cause. Well done and everybody – now take part in the consultation.”

Haringey Council finance chief quits

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So – Charles Adje is finally going. As the Ham & High reports:

CONTROVERSIAL finance chief Cllr Charles Adje has sensationally quit his cabinet position after months of fending off attacks from the public and opposition parties.

Cllr Adje, who was leader of the council in 2004 and 2005, has faced months of mud-slinging including:

o a Standards Board hearing which found him guilty of disclosing confidential information

o criticism in two official reports about his actions as chairman of the board at Alexandra Palace

o questions on how he dealt with council finances after £37million was lost in failed Icelandic banks…

Cllr Robert Gorrie, Lib Dem leader, said: “In recent years Cllr Adje has been part of a Labour administration that has cost residents millions and left Haringey with one if the highest council tax rates in London.

“It has taken the bungled sell-off of Ally Pally, £37million lost in Icelandic Banks and massively overspent IT projects for the Labour group to realise that this list of failure is too long for local residents to endure any longer.”

Labour councillor Alan Stanton, who has often criticised his colleague’s actions, said: “He should have stepped down yesterday and stepped down from the council altogether. He has proven beyond any doubt that he has no judgement and carries on making mistakes, one after the other.

What to make of the hundreds of billions of debt?

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Two thoughts strike me as the budget news continues to sink in. First, most of what passes for debate over tax and spending policies between Labour and the Conservatives has been a matter of a few billion here or there. Compared with the hundreds of billions of debt, this really does seem to me a matter of Titanic and deckchairs.

It also says something about how unhealthy the state of our politics is with so much heat and focus having gone into sums that are dwarfed by the scale of the problem. At least Nick Clegg, Vince Cable et al have been talking about plans with sums running into many tens of billions in total in terms of changed spending priorities, fairer tax system etc. That’s the scale of policies we need.

Second, hundreds of billions of debt looming over the economy and public life for years to come – that’s the sort of thing which can wreck a political party’s fortunes for a generation. This is Winter of Discontent / forced exit from the ERM territory – providing both the symbolic and actual damage to a party that sees a generation of its rising stars have their political careers wiped out.

I wonder if that might just be enough to push them over the edge and – if Labour gets
hammered in June – make them dump Brown? The political gossip season of the summer and conference season is set to be very interesting!

Rhodes Avenue Primary School consultation

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From the consultation on expanding Rhodes Avenue School, Haringey Council says:

“The first stage of consultation on a possible expansion of Rhodes Avenue Primary School in Alexandra ward to three forms of entry (90 reception places) ended on the 28 November 2008 …

“The Council has considered the views of the respondents, and balanced those views with the need to increase the supply of school places in the area.

“The Council has decided to go ahead with the publication of the statutory notices.

“The Statutory Notices will be published on Friday 24th April 2009. Statutory Notices will be published outside the school gates and in the local papers.

“This will start the formal consultation process and will last for four weeks. The process will end on Friday the 22nd May 2009. All interested parties are invited to write in and make their views know to the Acting Head of Place Planning, 48 Station Road, Wood Green N22 7TY by this date.”

So if you want to respond to the ‘statutory’ consultation – then go to http://www.haringey.gov.uk/rhodesconsultation for more information – and by all means post up your comments on this blog too.

Doom and dust

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Well – with the measures Alistair announced in the Budget – it is the country’s doom and Gordon will be dust! OK – so I’m never going to get employment as a sun headline writer – never mind.

This was an opportunity for the Government to have rebalanced the tax system – not by the 50p rate of tax (which is not going to bring in enough income) but by raising the threshold and taking £700 of the vast majority of people’s tax bills. And this would be paid for by really closing the tax loopholes and clamping down on exemptions that benefit the very rich and leave that majority of low or middle income earners paying proportionally more tax than the the top earners. That would help people who are struggling.

In the future, as we climb out of this mess, we will need a national debate about what the state can or cannot afford in the future. That way we will all have a stake in the pain that is to come and we can choose where that pain is best born to make the burden lighter.

I was, however, very interested in the Chancellor’s promise that every young person between 18 and 24 would be offered a job, training or education if out of work for 12 months. I want to know what jobs, what training etc and in Tuesday’s budget debate hope to catch Mr Speaker’s eye and get called. As youth spokesperson, I am very worried about the lost generation who will emerge from tertiary education in particular to nothing. The loss of confidence and the loss of talent from that cohort must be avoided. But there was no flesh on the bones of the announcement – so my mission is to find out exactly what the Chancellor means.

In praise of Coldfall Primary School's Head

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Jim Knight (Minister for Schools) was very jovial at the meeting I arranged with him for the Head, Deputy and Assistant Heads of Coldfall Primary School. They had been so upset by what the unforgiving, child-hostile testing regime of SATs was doing to children that I had met with them recently on this issue – and this meeting was the result.

Well – was enormously proud of Coldfall’s case to the Minister. Evelyn Davies (Head) made an outstanding case against the over-testing and flawed league tables. She was clear, passionate and extremely knowledgeable and experienced – and measured. Moreover, when Jim Knight responded and referred to testing at Key Stage 3 in secondary schools – saying it found favour – quick as anything Evelyn came back and challenged this – pointing out that she is talking about what is happening to 6 year olds – just not comparable.

Since the debacle over the agency that failed to deliver the SATs results (and was sacked) and the recent union threats to ballot for strike action if SATs aren’t abolished – the Government is not unaware of the unpopularity of this regime.

The Minister laid out what the Government is doing – reviews on the curriculum etc etc. But it was clear that – whatever the replacement regime is – there will be more testing and more measurement. They are even going to measure well-being.

I don’t think this Government really understands that the tick box methods, the overly process-driven, responsibility-removing target-setting environment is the problem – not the solution.

But the case was made – and made well. If I was Jim Knight I would grab Evelyn Davies and put her as his key adviser on education. That way our children would be well educated in every sense of the word!