A typical Haringey Council Tax bill will now cost a whopping £1431.74, up from £1383.59 in 2006/07, following the setting of the Council Tax last night. Haringey Liberal Democrats have criticised the move, which followed Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone’s decision to increase his Council Tax levy by an inflation busting 5.3%.

Liberal Democrats are pointing to the rapid increase of Council Tax under the Labour administration in Haringey over the past ten years. A total of £575.74 has been added to the tax burden for the residents of Haringey – an increase of two-thirds – since 1998-9.

Neil Williams, Lib Dem Opposition Leader, comments:

“Council Tax bills in Haringey have nearly doubled in recent years, and local people can ill afford it.

“If Haringey wasted less money, and Ken Livingstone spent less on self serving publicity we could have got an increase lower than 5.3%, while still protecting key services like policing and transport. These are crippling bills and as Haringey Labour showed last night that they simply do not care.”

Haringey Liberal Democrats have welcomed a climb-down by Haringey Labour’s embattled leadership over their failure to consult properly over new parking charges. The move came at a Full Council meeting last night, when the Labour leader told Lib Dem councillors Martin Newton and Neil Williams that he had “no problem” with extending the consultation period to six weeks.

Liberal Democrats had forced the decision by top Labour councillors to be reconsidered in a meeting with the Council’s ‘watchdog’ committee last week, in which Lib Dems criticised Labour’s inadequate consultation plans. The admission by the Labour leader will be seen as a concession to Lib Dem pressure to engage the public on such a big change in parking policy.

Cllr Neil Williams, Leader of the Opposition, comments:

“Lib Dem pressure, with support on this occasion from some Labour councillors, has forced the Labour leadership to change their mind on this issue.”

Cllr Martin Newton, Transport spokesperson, adds:

“We welcome this move and hope that the public will be more engaged in the process. Six weeks is not ideal, but it is a little better than what he had before. The key issue now is to ensure that the public are given a more meaningful opportunity to give their views – and that those views are listened to.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem MP for Hornsey & Wood Green, has been shorted-listed for the prestigious Dods ‘Woman MP of Year’ Award.

The award is granted to the “most effective woman in the House of Commons who has shown outstanding parliamentary achievement during the year either as a minister or backbencher and who has done much to positively raise the standing of politics both inside the House and with the public.”

The final decision will be made by a vote of all MPs and Peers and revealed at the awards ceremony on 8th March 2007.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I am absolutely thrilled to make the shortlist. The barriers to women entering politics are not what they once were but the House of Commons does sometimes feels like an old boys’ club with some of its testosterone-fuelled yah boo debates leaving a lot to be desired.

“For me encouraging more women in Parliament isn’t about feminism, but simple equality. If I have inspired one woman to take the leap into politics then we’re one step closer to having representatives that truly reflect the make up of the people they serve.”

Comments from the Dods’ website on Ms. Featherstone’s nomination:

“But it is not only for her impressive start as a Westminster parliamentarian that Lynne Featherstone receives the nomination for MP of the Year: she also deserves praise for her blog using it to demystify politics, engage with the public and show that politicians have a human face.”

Liberal Democrats and local residents in Highgate have condemned Haringey Council for failing to stop parking chaos in the area and for ignoring the views of local residents.

Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams, who represents Highgate ward, says that the Miltons area of his ward, north of Hornsey Lane, is experiencing parking chaos due to the introduction of Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in neighbouring streets – schemes that the Council has known about, but which they have so far failed to address with their own proposals.

The area now has the only streets within easy reach of the Whittington Hospital that does not have parking controls, resulting in displacement parking chaos and misery for local residents.

Residents in the area were consulted on the introducing of parking controls last year, and are thought to favour the introduction of a controlled parking zone. However, Haringey Council has not yet even released the results of this consultation, let alone designed a scheme to put to the residents.

The situation was set to worsen further this weekend, when Haringey Council gave notice that it would vigorously enforce parking restrictions in the area, despite an earlier pledge to Highgate councillor Bob Hare that they would adopt a “light touch” while the present problems persisted.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“Local residents in the area are now facing parking chaos, which is only set to worsen. The Council is ignoring requests to help sort out this situation. It is absurd. Where there appears to be local support for parking controls, the Council dithers, while wasting its time on unpopular parking schemes elsewhere in the borough.

“Haringey Council needs to reprioritise its work plans, and get some relief to the residents of this part of Highgate as soon as possible. The present situation is totally intolerable, and cannot be allowed to continue as long as July.”

Haringey Council’s top ‘Watchdog’ Committee has asked the Labour-controlled Council to reconsider its consultation plans for new parking charges. The move by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 13th February 2007 was the result of a Lib Dem instigated ‘call-in’ of the Council’s plans, and saw Labour members of the committee disagree publicly on the issue.

The move followed protests from the Lib Dems and some Labour members that Haringey Council had opted for only the bare minimum of consultation for this significant overhaul in Control Parking Zone (CPZ) charging.Moreover, it was revealed last night that the Council had intended to do no more than put a few notices on lampposts and place legal notices in local papers.

In a further development, Councillor Brian Haley, lead member of environmental services, and no stranger to CPZ controversy, revealed that the whole scheme had been brought forward by Labour against his own wishes, and would offer no explanation for this. The news confirms Lib Dem suspicions that the scheme has been designed to plug a short-term whole in Labour’s budget rather than to secure the best possible benefit for the environment.

Councillor Martin Newton, Haringey Lib Dem spokesperson for transport, put forward positive Lib Dem proposals for a revenue neutral scheme, with more consultation, and a better banding structure that would encourage more residents to switch to lower emission vehicles.

Cllr Martin Newton comments:

“We are fully behind using taxation to change people’s behaviour to prevent climate change – and the pressure is now on Labour to allow more time to come up with a better scheme. We need to take people along with us in the process of introducing this scheme.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem MP for Hornsey & Wood Green, has kept the pressure up on the Government to deliver on the Hornsey Central Hospital by seizing the opportunity to quiz a key Government Minister on the pending grant award.

Ms Featherstone questioned Andy Burnham MP, Minister of State at the Department of Health, on the accounting problems delaying the Strategic Authority’s awarding of the grant needed for the development of health services on the site.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I am not going to let anyone rest on their laurels on the awarding of this grant for the development.Work might have started on the development, but there are a lot of ‘T’s to be crossed and quite a few ‘I’s to be dotted before we crack open the champagne.

“It is essential the funds are released centrally. Local people have received a long outstanding promise and I am going to make sure it is delivered.”

Note: you can read details of the question here.

The Liberal Democrats in Haringey have launched their new campaign – We can cut crime – as the centrepiece of their efforts to tackle crime and improve the lives of all the citizens of Haringey.

Cllr Ron Aitken, Lib Dem Spokesperson on Crime, along with Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, launched the campaign on Saturday 3 rd February 2007 in Wood Green.

The Liberal Democrats have a five point plan to beat crime involving more police on the beat, taking back the streets from criminals and making them safe for the public, honesty in sentencing so that life will mean life, making prison work with training and education, and using the proceeds of prisoners work to fund a Victims Compensation fund.

Lib Dems have also demanded effective action from Haringey Council to tackle crime in Haringey. They have submitted a motion to be considered at the 19th February 2007 council meeting urging Haringey Council to do more to tackle anti-social behaviour in the community.

Cllr Aitken comments:

“Labour have been in power for ten years, but haven’t managed to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour effectively. We don’t need spin that shies away from reality – we need real action.

“The reality in Haringey is that 272 firearms incidents were recorded in just the last two years, 68 of which involved the firing of a weapon. One person was fatally injured and 58 others received injuries when a firearm was discharged. For the victims this is an appalling toll of trauma and misery.”

Lynne Featherstone adds:

“We have five simple steps that could really make a difference in our area. We would spend the billions of pounds the Government is spending on ID cards on extra police. We want to take back our streets and make them a place where families aren’t afraid to go after dark and we want prison sentences to mean something and make prison work.”

Liberal Democrats have slammed the Labour budget presented to Haringey Council on 5th February 2007, and have presented their own alternative proposals. The party also challenged Labour to provide evidence of how their own savings would be achieved.

Lib Dems proposals include cutting back on extravagant Labour propaganda and publications, energy saving across the council of 4%, and cutting council travel expenses. Savings identified by the Lib Dems would be used to reverse Labour’s rubbish collection cuts and the planned closure of the Keston Road Centre, an increase the budget for graffiti clear-up, funding a commercial waste reduction programme, investing in an additional youth worker for each Area Assembly and planting more trees in the borough.

Matt Davies (Lib Dem Finance spokesperson) comments:

“Our proposals show that there is much more that the council can do to meet the key concerns of local residents. And what a pity so much money is wasted by Haringey Council on disasters like the $15 million overspend on Tech Refresh.”

Robert Gorrie, Deputy Finance Spokesperson, adds:

“The 1,318 pages of the budget are uninspiring, lack real content and only highlights that Labour are not in control of their finances. Haringey Council has no concept of providing output targets to show what impact their budget will have on indicators their performance is measured. One can only assume that they have no idea what effect their budget will have.”

Liberal Democrat councillors in Alexandra ward have asked Haringey Council to explain why, nearly three weeks after the strong winds uprooted two trees on 18th January 2007, the Triangle in Alexandra ward has yet to be cleared of debris caused by the storm.

The Triangle, situated at the junction of Palace Gates Road and Crescent Road, had been badly neglected by the Labour Council over many years. Following a successful community-led bid for funding from the Muswell Hill Area Assembly community budget last year, a residents’ working group, supported by local businesses and councillors, has worked hard to revive the site through a three year upgrade project.

Cllr Wayne Hoban (Alexandra ward) comments:

“Local residents were extremely disappointed to see two healthy trees on the site lost in the storm, but it is even more distressing to see the council dragging its feet in clearing the site from the aftermath. I have asked for urgent action to clear the site and replace the destroyed trees to ensure that the upgrade programme is not unnecessarily delayed.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Wayne Hoban has told Haringey Council that it must do more to support the Macmillan Cancer Information drop-in centre in Bigbury Close, Tottenham. Councillor Hoban has written to Haringey Council to express his concern that Labour-run Haringey Council is failing to provide support and adequate advertising to attract people to this valuable service.

Cllr Hoban visited the centre after an invitation by the manager concerned that potential users of the service may not be aware that it exists. The centre provides support and information for cancer patients and their families. Cllr Hoban has asked the council to assist in advertising the service through a donation of advertising space in council publications – this request has been denied.

As the charity is currently administered from several private homes, the manager has asked the council for permission to make available space on the site for construction of a small office which would allow them to operate this vital service more effectively, the cost of which would be borne by the charity, but Haringey Council has yet to respond effectively to this request.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“This cancer charity delivers a vital service to vulnerable people who need professional care and assistance within their community, which is completely in line with government policy. Haringey Council has a duty to ensure that the charity is given all possible support and assistance to ensure that the service is maximised and potential users of the service are reached. I will continue to push for an effective response.”