The Haringey Liberal Democrats have warmly welcomed the introduction of the new Safer Neighbourhood Team in Highgate ward, following a long campaign by Lynne Featherstone MP and Haringey Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Neil Williams for the extra police presence.

Highgate sits at the boundary of three boroughs – Haringey, Islington and Camden – and has at times been neglected as a result, with no single borough assuming overall responsibility or control.

The two had earlier taken the issue to the Metropolitan Police Authority arguing that the borough border areas like Highgate had not been getting the priority they deserved from the Safer Neighbourhoods rollout.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I am delighted to see the introduction, at long last, of the Highgate Safer Neighbourhood Team. The Liberal Democrats and I believe passionately that more localism in policing produces a higher quality of police force and will allow local people to work with the police to make their community a safer place.”

Councillor Neil Williams, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Opposition, comments:

“Highgate has in the past suffered from a lack of joined-up policing, a matter which we took to the Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority. I am very pleased that the Safer Neighbourhood Team has finally been introduced. A great day for Highgate!”

Haringey Labour has been plunged into disarray after several of their council candidates started openly campaigning against the official local schools policies being promoted by other Labour candidates.

Labour’s Muswell Hill candidates have attacked the official schools policy calling it “controversial”, “wrong” and saying “we don’t want [it]” in an election leaflet only days into the election campaign for control of Haringey Council on May 4th.

They have also warned how Labour’s schools policy will only help “a select few”.

Labour’s splits come after the party has been heavily criticised by local parents for the shortage of school places plaguing much of the borough. The latest bad news is that over 189 children have not been offered a place at any of the secondary schools their parents applied for, and the number is expected to increase further in the next few weeks.

Gail Engert, Liberal Democrat candidate for Muswell Hill and Education spokesperson said:

“This is a Labour group in chaos. It appears that the left hand and right hand are not connecting.

“The Liberal Democrats in Haringey offer a clear positive choice, we are pledging to end the annual school’s places crisis with a full consultation with local parents and a ten year plan. Labour just offer chaos and confusion.”

Liberal Democrats are battling with Labour for control of Haringey Council and will launch their manifesto tomorrow, with a visit to the borough from newly elected Party Leader Menzies Campbell MP.

The visit by Ming Campbell reflects the importance of Haringey as a key national background between the Lib Dems and Labour in this year’s local elections.

Ming will meet party activists and local Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone at their Hornsey headquarters after launching a campaign for more CCTV at Harringay station.

The election battle is hotting up, with Labour’s own election leaflets predicting a close fight between the Lib Dems and Labour, with the real prospect of an end to more than thirty years of Labour rule.

For the first time the Lib Dems are fielding a full slate of fifty-seven candidates across all of the borough’s 19 wards.

Launched tomorrow, the Lib Dem’s comprehensive manifesto for the borough contains key pledges to end the annual school places crisis, lower Council Tax towards the London average, hand power back to residents and to fight to keep local police stations open.

Neil Williams, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Haringey Council, comments:

“Our election campaign is getting off to a flying start this week, and we will be delighted to have Ming Campbell here with us. For the first time, local voters have a real chance or removing an arrogant and complacent local party from control of our borough.

“With a united team this will give us the chance to implement policies that will really benefit the local environment, planning ahead for the future of our schools, and involving local people in our democracy. We are very much looking forward to the campaign ahead.”

Parents in Haringey were aghast after hearing news that of 2,832 applications for places at primary schools, some 156 children, 84 of whom are Haringey residents, have received no offer at all of a place from any of the schools to which they applied. Most worrying of all, it appears that there are still many families who have yet to make an application.

The news comes after Lib Dem councillor Gail Engert requested the latest figures on applications from Haringey Council’s Children’s Service. The gap between applications and places looks set to worsen, as the Council explained: “We will receive many – perhaps several hundred – late applications between now and September, partly from out-borough residents whose authorities work on a later timetable, partly from new arrivals and partly from those who simply neglected to apply.”

Councillor Gail Engert, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, comments:

“We voiced serious concerns over the shortfall of reception places in local primary schools in each of the last two years, and yet Haringey’s Children’s Service has still not taken enough action to address the problem properly. The possibility of yet more applications means that the figures we have at the moment are a best-case scenario in all likelihood, the problem will get worse. One of the most important tasks a local authority has is the provision of education, and it is clear that the Labour-led Haringey Council is just not up to the task. Our children deserve better.”

Haringey Liberal Democrats have been stunned by the revelation that Haringey Council’s own employees do not have access to recycling facilities for plastic bottles. Staff in the council’s headquarters atRiver Park House were informed by the Buildings Manager that while “Tin cans go in the red topped recycling bin in your kitchen area”, “Plastic bottles go in the general bin – we can’t recycle them.”

Councillor Bob Hare, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Environment, comments:

“It is absolutely unbelievable that the Council has not made provision for their own workers to recycle. We have lobbied long and hard for Haringey Council to pay more attention to the environment, particularly recycling, so it is surprising to say the least. It is a clear indication that, despite the Council shouting about its recycling ‘successes’ from the rooftops, their policy is dictated by the drive to win votes – when it comes to keeping their own house in order, they just don’t care.”

Councillor Neil Williams, Leader of the Opposition, adds:

“For a council that declares itself to be concerned with the environment, to be advising its staff to throw plastic in the bin is hypocritical and shameful. They have adopted a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ attitude, and I have no doubt that voters who have a concern for the environment will find this attitude very distasteful.”

Primary school class sizes in Haringey Borough are larger than they were when Labour came to power in 1997, and are amongst the highest in London, new figures show.

The average primary class in Haringey is 27.4 children, substantially higher than the London average of 26.7, and, most significantly, higher than in 1997, when the average class size was 26.9. Across London, just three boroughs have average class sizes higher than those in Haringey.

Councillor Gail Engert, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, comments:

“Across London, the average class size has dropped very slightly. It is very worrying indeed that Haringey does not follow that trend, and questions must be asked of Haringey Council as to why this is the case. We have already seen many pupils of all ages not being offered places at local schools in the borough; now we can see the long-term results of the Haringey Labour Party’s control of the Council.”

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, comments:

“Larger class sizes and a shortage of school places are the results of years of Labour’s promises on education. The truth is in these stark statistics.”

Note: figures from Evening Standard 23rd March 2006

Liberal Democrat councillor for Stroud Green Laura Edge has expressed her delight at the completion of the colourful mural that now brightens Quernmore Road, replacing an unattractive metal fence.

The mural, designed by a local artist and erected with the help of local young residents from Chettle Court, was put in place to bring colour and life to a previously derelict area next to the railway line in Quernmore Road, N4. It is hoped that it will discourage graffiti in the area and promote a feeling of safety, particularly at night.

Councillor Edge comments:

“I am very pleased indeed to see the completed mural, which looks even better and brighter than expected. It brings a great community feel to the road. We have been looking at ways to instil an atmosphere of safety and security into Quernmore Road. With this great project and our campaign for CCTV on the road, I really think that residents will begin to notice the difference. The kids at Chettle Court should be very proud of their work – it looks fantastic.”

At this week’s Haringey Council meeting Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Cllr Wayne Hoban proposed a motion calling on Haringey Council and Haringey’s MPs to lobby the Labour Government to address the serious NHS funding crisis which is jeopardising the delivery of community health projects in Haringey.

The motion, seconded by Lib Dem Cllr Martin Newton, was amended by Labour to downplay the problem.

Cllr Hoban’s speech highlighted that the serious NHS funding crisis, with trusts throughout England heading for a combined deficit of £1 billion, had put at risk many community health projects in Haringey as local trusts struggled to bring their huge overspends under control.

Cllr Hoban stated:

“There is a £1.76 billion funding gap between what local authorities have to spend in the financial year and what it will cost them to deliver community health services. The Labour-appointed Haringey Primary Care Trust’s recent decision to go back to the drawing board yet again regarding their plan to redevelop the Hornsey Central Hospital site in Hornsey & Wood Green is nothing short of a scandal.

“The hospital was shut down in 2000 against the wishes of local residents with a promise that it would be retained and redeveloped for community health use.

“It is nothing short of a scandal that this Labour Government, despite huge increased NHS investment through back-door tax increases, is overseeing the collapse of many essential community health developments such as the Hornsey Central Hospital project. The NHS financial crisis combined with a lack of government investment in social care has produced huge problems in Haringey. The number of people in need of care is increasing by the day and a fair, sustainable system of funding must be introduced at the earliest opportunity.”

Haringey Council have rejected plans for a casino at Alexandra Palace, prompting speculation that other components of the Firoka group’s plans for the Palace, which include the popular ice rink and television museum, may now be in jeopardy. Serious criticism has been levelled at Haringey Council for the manner in which the decision was taken as the majority of councillors at the meeting explained that they had no knowledge at all of the plans before the meeting.

Two months after being notified of the plans, the Council’s Executive group met to discuss Labour councillor Harry Lister’s report on the casino just days before the crucial decision had to be made.

Despite having received a briefing just two weeks prior to the meeting, almost none of the Labour group knew that the casino was intended for residents of the hotel only, and not for the general public. Chaos reigned, and the Executive rejected the plans. With the purdah period for the council elections starting on the 23rd March, the decision cannot be revisited, as the majority of the Executive’s functions are now suspended until after the local elections in May – by which time, the deal will have been finalised.

Lib Dem Councillor Bob Hare, a member of the Palace board, comments:

“The decision-making process has been ludicrously bad, and now the chance to debate the matter further has gone for years. While the Liberal Democrats and I may have reservations over casinos, we do insist that councillors who take decisions that will affect Alexandra Palace for the next 125 years will have at least listened to briefings and been aware of the details of plans before decisions such as this are made.”

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Councillor Neil Williams comments:

“The people of Haringey are all too aware of how little their opinion on the future of Ally Pally matters to the Labour-led Council. There has been no satisfactory consultation, and this is because Labour want to be rid of the palace as soon as possible. It is just typical of Labour’s attitude towards the palace – they want to take the money and have nothing more to do with it.”

Haringey Council has failed to take timely and corrective action to reduce the gap between policy and practice in its Children’s Service. Five years after the tragic death of Victoria Climbie, Councillor Wayne Hoban at last night’s Council meeting challenged the Labour lead member for the Children’s Service to comment on Haringey Council’s continuing failure to address quickly complaints made under the Children’s Act.

The Council’s latest performance figures show that of 25 ‘Stage 1’ complaints made under the Children’s Act, just 16 had been completed within the target of 2 weeks. Much more worryingly, not one of the seven more serious ‘Stage 2’ complaints since April 2005 had been dealt with within the target 28 days, and just five had been completed within 90 days.

Councillor Wayne Hoban, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Social Services, comments:

“This appalling standard of service beggars belief. In Lord Laming’s inquiry report into the Victoria Climbie tragedy, he stated that ‘[Haringey] council members and the senior management of Haringey must be held to account for the yawning gap between safe policies and procedures, and poor practice in their children and families’ service.’

“The same administration and officers continue to run our Children and Families’ Service. As if the total lack of accountability that Haringey displayed following the death of Victoria Climbie was not enough, these latest figures are worrying signs that not enough has been done to address the gross systemic failings that failed to protect her. Action must be taken to ensure that serious and far-reaching reform of the Children’s Service is undertaken.”