The Annual General Meeting of the Lib Dem Council group on 9th May 2007 has resulted in a number of changes in posts for the 27-strong opposition party in Haringey. Key changes include Cllr Richard Wilson (Stroud Green) who becomes Deputy Leader, and Cllr Moinca Whyte (Hornsey) who becomes Liberal Democrat Chief Whip.

Other changes include Cllr Robert Gorrie (Hornsey) chosen as Lib Dem Finance Spokesperson and Cllr Carolyn Baker (Harringay) elected as Health Spokesperson.

Lib Dem Leader Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“I’m really looking forward to working with this new team, who will carry on the excellent work of our campaigning local council group. We have a crucial role to play in holding this unpopular Labour council to account, and to continue to use our position to drive up standards in the Council. Everyone in our team makes a really great contribution.”

The Government has today missed another opportunity to take meaningful action to tackle vulture funds, said Liberal Democrat Shadow International Development Secretary, Lynne Featherstone MP.

Her comments come after Gordon Brown issued a written ministerial statement about the funds, which buy the debt obligations of poor countries at a fraction of their face value in the hope of enforcing them through the courts at full value.

In one recent case Donegal International was awarded $15.5m from Zambia in a case at London’s High Court.

Lynne Featherstone said:

“This statement once again proves that Gordon Brown is happy to talk about this problem, but won’t actually do anything to address it.

“It was a disgrace that a court in this country awarded Donegal International millions of pounds from Zambia.

“Whilst international action is required to solve this situation in the long term, Gordon Brown needs to show good will on this and actually start addressing this problem in his own backyard.

“The Government uses phrases like ‘will therefore take forward talks’ which prove to be meaningless as soon as you read between the lines. It is time they stepped up their efforts beyond empty rhetoric.”

Commenting on criticisms of alleged’part time councillors’, and Lib Dem councillors standing in the recent Scottish elections, by Labour councillor Lorna Reith, Lib Dem Leader Cllr Neil Williams said:

“This is an offensive, infantile and bizarre statement from such a senior Labour councillor – if this is what we get from the Council’s Public Relations boss, then residents really must despair.

“I applaud anyone for standing for election, regardless of their political views. Also, Cllr Reith has insulted many by saying the role of a local councillor must be a full time job. This is an appalling message to send to all those considering public service in the borough, who would bring much needed professional expertise to the council, and to Haringey Labour. I know I receive enormous benefit from those in my Lib Dem group who have experience of the business world at a senior level.”

Lib Dem Cllr Richard Wilson adds:

“This extraordinary statement does look like an attempt to undermine fellow Labour councillor Nilgun Canver, who is going for the Labour nomination for the Hornsey seat, despite being a councillor in Tottenham.

“We look forward to pointing out that Ms Canver is a ‘part time councillor’ at Lorna’s behest, if she is selected.”

Figures uncovered by Lynne Featherstone MP reveal 10,000 women are waiting for a breast screening because of the suspension in North London Breast Screening service “due to system process errors”.

The worrying statistic, revealed in enquiries by the Hornsey & Wood Green MP, shows the extent of the backlog since the service that covers Haringey, Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Harrow and the southern half of West Hertfordshire closed its doors last December following the discovery in errors in its screening process.

Ms. Featherstone says:

“Regular breast screening is essential in catching any anomalies as early as possible to maximise the chances of a successful treatment.Therefore delays in clearing this backlog could put lives at risk.

“This is extremely worrying and I am calling upon the authority to re-start screening as a matter of urgency and have sought assurances from the minister that the backlog is dealt with as quickly as possible.”

Cllr Richard Wilson, Lib Dem Haringey Health Spokesperson adds:

“Of course, if there have been errors in the screening process this must be fixed. However, months down the lines it is simply not acceptable that women are left without a key service in the fight against breast cancer.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey & Wood Green, has welcomed a Government decision to accept a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Pensions Bill, which is currently going through Parliament. The effect of the Government’s decision will be to ensure that 40,000 more carers get the basic state pension, including an estimated 150 in Haringey.

Lynne Featherstone said:

“I am delighted that the Government has conceded that their pension plans prevented many carers from building an entitlement to the basic state pension and that they will take steps to put this right.

“For me, this is simply an issue of fairness.Carers make a huge contribution and this must be recognised when they come to retire by the granting of a full pension.

“Under the new proposals, agreed to by the Government, 40,000 more carers, who would have been unable to build up entitlement, will be credited with National Insurance Contributions and therefore will be eligible for a full state pension, including an estimated 150 right here in Haringey.

“I am pleased that the Liberal Democrats, working with groups including Carers UK, the Equal Opportunities Commission, Age Concern and Help the Aged, as well as MPs from other parties, have been able to achieve this valuable improvement to our pension system.”

Urgent assurances from Peter Hendy, the London Commissioner for Transport, about the fate of Parkland Walk under the proposed new cycling funding scheme have been sought by Lynne Featherstone MP.

Speaking after last Thursday’s Area Assembly where the proposals were presented to local residents, Ms. Featherstone said:

“I am not satisfied from what I heard at the meeting that the improvements to Parkland Walk won’t mean cyclists belting through. I have written an urgent letter to Peter Hendy, Commissioner of Transport for London, to seek assurances as to exactly what improvements they expect Haringey to make with their funding. I am also contacting Haringey to get sight of their bid.

“Local users made it quite clear that they didn’t want improvements that would make the walk more attractive to cyclists who will then use it as a speed track, wrecking the tranquillity of this very special nature reserve in the heart of our over-stressed community.”

Text of letter to Peter Hendy:

Peter Hendy CBE
Commissioner of Transport
Transport for London
Windsor House
42-50 Victoria Street
LONDON
SW1H 0TL

Date: 08 May 2007

Dear Peter,

Re: Parkland Walk, Haringey.

I attended a local neighbourhood Assembly last night (Crouch End, Hornsey and Stroud Green) and it was clear from the presentation, questions and comments that there is deep uncertainty about exactly what will be delivered by Haringey as a result of the funding obtained by their bid to Transport for London as part of the Green Pathways initiative.

As I understand from the meeting the funding comes from TfL and is part of their Centre for Cycling Excellence push to improve cycling across London – which of course we support.

However, this is not about a cycle lane in our traffic laden street – this is about a beautiful linear park / nature reserve which is used by pedestrians, dog walkers and occasional considerate recreational cyclists. It is a wilderness – and the fear at the meeting was that as the money was coming from the cycle improvement program at TfL – you would be requiring certain cycling improvements to be forthcoming.

What I am seeking from you is reassurance as to what your understanding is as to what will be provided as part of this project with your funding. I will get sight of the bid from Haringey – but I would like to hear from TfL what they expect for their bucks on cycling out of this pot.

I look forward to hearing from you very soon.

Yours sincerely,

Lynne Featherstone MP
Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green

Concern is growing that Homes for Haringey, Haringey Council’s Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO) in charge of Haringey’s 21,000 council homes, will not receive an improved star rating essential for investment in the borough’s council homes.

Haringey Liberal Democrats are pointing to a recent admission from a watchdog body that the ALMO inspection scores could suffer due to the Labour Government _ s decision to delay Decent Homes funding. Homes for Haringey are due to be inspected on 9th May 2007.

Cllr Catherine Harris (Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson) comments:

“I am so disappointed for all the tenants waiting in their homes for news of the Decent Homes improvements and when they will start.

“I hear too many reports from tenants living with severe disrepair, shoddy patch up jobs and lack of investment in council housing in Haringey. It is a lack of forward thinking. For the Labour Council it is their own Labour government that is stalling on this money.”

Lynne Featherstone, Hornsey & Wood Green MP, adds:

“As the constituents who regularly come to my surgery testify, much of Haringey’s housing is creaking at the edges. Without urgent investment which tenants and leaseholders have been promised for years, many residents are stuck in housing that is almost unfit for human habitation.

“This is another Labour manifesto promise broken and it is local people who have to suffer the consequences.”

Liberal Democrat councillors have refused to rubber stamp an “inadequate” plan to improve the crisis ridden Adult Social Service in Haringey. Lib Dem members prevented Haringey Council’s Audit Committee from endorsing the Labour Executive’s plans, after concerns they did not adequately deal with the serious issues raised by the Commission for Social Care Inspection’s report.

Last week’s Audit Committee meeting was summoned to consider Haringey Council’s response to the annual audit and inspection letter and to then to agree the actions that the Labour Executive had planned to address the issues. But Haringey’s Adult Social Services recently received a damning report from the Government’s inspectors, who rated the service to the elderly and the disabled the worst in London, and said its prospects for improvement were “uncertain”.

Cllr Monica Whyte (Hornsey), Cllr Matt Davies (Fortis Green) and Lib Dem Social Services spokesperson Richard Wilson were shocked at being asked to rubber-stamp such an important report, without any proper discussion or the plan being presented to the committee. After the intervention of the Liberal Democrat trio the Audit Committee refused to endorse the Labour Executive’s plan and asked for a more detailed review of the Council’s response to the damning inspection at their next meeting.

Cllr Richard Wilson comments:

“I am very pleased that I managed to persuade my colleagues on the Audit Committee not to rubber stamp the Executive’s inadequate response to the recent damning inspection report on Social Services. Government inspectors rated Haringey’s services for elderly and disabled people the worst in London, reduced its rating from two stars to one, and said its prospects for improvement were ‘uncertain’. Therefore the Council’s action plan to turnaround the performance in social services needs real scrutiny.

“If the Government’s inspectors weren’t convinced the Council is capable of halting the decline in care services, then councillors should be sceptical too, and demand real evidence of improvement from the Labour Executive – and they have yet to provide it.”

The inadequate clear up of rubbish dumped by fly-tippers at a local nature reserve has angered local Lib Dem councillor Bob Hare.

Queen’s Wood, situated on Queen’s Wood Road in Highgate, was subject to three separate fly-tipping incidents last week whereby building materials and household rubbish has been dumped. Liberal Democrats demanded that the site was cleaned up immediately and that broken CCTV is fixed so the perpetrators may be identified. Labour-run Haringey Council carried out a ‘clean-up’ of the area; however, rubbish was still strewn across a wide area.

Cllr Hare has now demanded that the Council clean up the residual mess and ensure that the CCTV is fixed to prevent further fly-tipping in the area.

Cllr Hare comments:

“This shows a total lack of concern for the nature reserve that is in the Council’s care, not to say utter contempt for the pleasure of the many local people who go for a walk at the weekend, and for visitors from outside the borough including people on the Capital Ring walk which goes through Queen’s Wood.

“The woods are always going to be vulnerable to dumping, but the best defence is rapid and thorough clean-up, and rigorous attempts to gain evidence for prosecutions.”

A plague of unsightly graffiti along Penstock Path has prompted Liberal Democrat councillors to request a clean up by Haringey Council. Cllr Catherine Harris and Cllr Bob Hare are appalled by the lack of action to deal with the vandalism and damage of walls along the popular path used by cyclists and pedestrians.

Cllr Catherine Harris (Noel Park) comments:

“This is a popular and extremely useful footpath, which provides a short route between Hornsey, the new New River Village and Wood Green town centre. However, the dark tunnel with the years of graffiti all over the walls makes it a very unwelcoming path for pedestrians.”

Cllr Bob Hare (Lib Dem spokesperson on Green Issues) adds:

“It is years since Haringey Council last painted the walls. This must be done as soon as possible to brighten up the tunnel and to improve the poor perception of personal safety given by the present dark and vandalised walls.”