Lib Dem councillors have expressed their concern over constant delays in the provision of after-school club facilities in the Muswell Hill area.

The move follows answers to questions from Lib Dem Education Spokesperson Gail Engert, who has been pressing Haringey Council to commit to a date for the provision of services at The Grove N10 and at Rhodes Avenue Primary School N10.

The latest Haringey Council estimate is that the services will be up and running by mid-August and the end of July respectively, despite saying at an earlier meeting they would be open by January or February this year.

The original information was provided to the Council’s Education Scrutiny Panel on 22 November, which stated that the two clubs would be opened in January or February. However, in answer to a question from Cllr Engert on 1 March, the Council now says that the dates have been put back to July and August.

To add to concerns over delays, Ms Engert says that the abolition of the borough’s education scrutiny panel, which is about to be swept away by the Labour group, will further enable the Labour-run council to avoid questions on these and other problems in the education service.

Cllr Gail Engert (Muswell Hill) comments:

“These delays will cause enormous inconvenience and disappointment to parents waiting to use the after-school clubs. The clubs are not likely to open in this school year, despite undertakings that they would be ready last month. They may not even be able to provide holiday provision at the start of the summer holidays.

“It worries me also that there will be no forum in which to raise these issues once Labour abolishes the education committee. If they fail to deliver, they must be answerable to local parents and local councillors.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokespersons Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey and Wood Green) and Wayne Hoban (Tottenham) have called for the two other parties to ban illegal nuisance phone calls to local residents in the run-up to the General Election in the borough.

The move follows national complaints from people who do not want nuisance calls, and have registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) to stop such calls.It has been revealed nationally that such people are still be phoned by both Labour and the Tories. The Liberal Democrats only call TPS-registered people if they have given the party their phone number and agreed to be rung.

The Liberal Democrats have set up a new website – http://www.stopnuisancecalls.com – to encourage voters to register formal complaints when they receive nuisance calls from Labour and the Tories. Fines of up to £5,000 per call can be imposed by the Information Commission for abusing the TPS system.

Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone comments:

“People register with the Telephone Preference Service because they do not want to receive nuisance calls at home. The Tories and Labour should not be pestering voters if they have taken the trouble to ask not to be called. From today, our new website will help people to complain. It could lead to a £5,000 fine for the party concerned. The two other parties should respect the rights of voters and consumers.”

Lib Dem Wayne Hoban adds:

“The Lib Dems are the only major party to try and ensure we do not make calls to TPS-registered homes, unless the resident has previously given us their number with permission to use it. The other parties should respect the wishes of voters who have clearly and specifically asked not to be called.”

Lynne Featherstone voiced her concerns at the decision of the Metropolitan Police Authority to impose a 2% cap on the growth of police officer numbers in Haringey for 2005/6, in effect denying the borough 14 extra officers.

Responding to the decision, Ms Featherstone said,

“The police in Haringey are working hard to bring down crime and tackle anti-social behaviour. They need all the resources and support they can get.

“This decision is a cruel blow to the community, who rightly expect to see the police they pay for, and which the Met itself says Haringey needs, out patrolling their streets.

“I have written to the Metropolitan Police Authority Chair, Len Duvall, making it clear that I expect extra resources to be made available to Haringey should the cap affect the ability of our local police to do their job properly, and seeking his assurance that in the future the MPA will make it a priority to bring Haringey up to its full officer entitlement.”

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Ron Aitken has challenged Labour to explain differences in what it has told different people over the controversial closure of the Red Gables family health centre in Crouch End.

Under pressure over the cuts, the Labour lead members for Social Services told residents campaigning to protect services at the site that there are no plans to sell it. However, Cllr Ron Aitken points out that in a letter dated 28 Jan2005 , Kate Wynne, Lead Member for Social Services , wrote:

“The use of the Red Gables Home will be phased out over the two year period, with money from the building directed into the new assessment team.”

Cllr Wynne has since admitted that the centre will indeed be closed.

Cllr Aitken comments:

“This letter shows Labour has been playing politics over the future of Red Gables. Where was this money coming from if the Red Gables site isn’t being sold? Residents will rightly suspect that Labour were really planning to sell the site despite their public claims to the contrary. We need a full and honest explanation, as residents were clearly led to believe there was hope for the future of the site. They do not want a virtual service as proposed by Labour.”

Lib Dem Councillor for Crouch End Cllr Ron Aitken has welcomed action by Haringey Council to investigate the growth of an unofficial builder’s yard on the site of the covered Thames Water Reservoir at the top of Mount View Road and Ferme Park Road.

Cllr Aitken referred the matter to the Council’s enforcement team after local residents expressed concern about a fire on the site and the erection of various temporary structures.

Cllr Ron Aitken comments:

“It is good news that the Council intends to act over this site, which has become an instant eyesore for passers-by in general but particularly the residents living nearby.

“It is a concern that such an activity can spring up on a sensitive green site without hindrance.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Lynne Featherstone has welcomed moves to tackle the speeding problem on Bounds Green Road.

The road has been subject to a number of accidents in recent times, and Haringey Council has now told Cllr Featherstone that they are seeking to introduce additional speed cameras on the stretch of the road near the North Circular. Ms Featherstone says that if approved the new cameras should be introduced during the 2005/06 financial year.

Lynne Featherstone has also expressed concern about cars overtaking onto the wrong side of Bounds Green Road near the North Circular. Haringey Council has told her that they are waiting for Transport for London’s detailed proposals for the A406 widening in Bounds Green before deciding on additional measures for this section.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am pleased that action is likely to improve safety on this very wide and busy road.

“Speed cameras and signs will help, but the Council must get to grips with additional traffic islands on the road on the approach to the North Circular. I will continue to press Haringey Council to ensure these improvements are carried out as part of the wider A406 scheme.”

Lib Dem councillors in Highgate have welcomed moves by the Met to beef up neighbourhood policing in the area following growing concern about the crime rate.

However, Lib Dem leader and local councillor Neil Williams warns that Highgate must have its full complement of community police officers if the problem is to be fully addressed.

Cllr Williams says he has had increased complaints from local residents in recent weeks about burglary and car crime in the area and has raised the issue of Highgate policing at Haringey Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee and with Chief Supt Stephen Bloomfield, Haringey’s police boss.

Mr Bloomfield has agreed to increase uniformed police patrols in the area “with immediate effect” and has promised to look at other measures, which he will set out shortly.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“I am pleased that Haringey police has agreed to boost police patrols in Highgate, but I look forward to a wide programme of future action from the police.

“Highgate, along with Muswell Hill, has been without a beat officer for several months now, and this is very worrying. We also have a commitment that the Met will look at policing in the wider Highgate area, as because of its position on the edge of three boroughs, Highgate is often last to benefit from initiatives such as neighbourhood policing.

“Lynne Featherstone, who sits on the Metropolitan Police Authority, has a commitment from the MPA that this will now be addressed.”

Liberal Democrats have vowed to press for improvements to a much-loved local library that Haringey Labour once tried to close.

This follows a useful consultation meeting last night on the future of the Muswell Hill library site, where local Lib Dem councillors, library campaigners and Haringey Council officials gave their views.

Lib Dem Cllr Gail Engert says the idea to expand the site to the rear of the building (into an existing car park owned by the council) is very popular with her constituents. Building at the rear of the existing site will almost double the footprint of the building. It will also allow for installation of a lift, bringing the upper floor into use for disabled residents.

Haringey Council reckons the scheme would cost at least £355,000, and spending is also needed to bring the existing building up to standard. The ideas will now go before the Labour-controlled Council Executive.

Lib Dem councillor Gail Engert (Muswell Hill) comments:

“This was a useful consultation exercise, as there is clearly a wide consensus among councillors and library campaigners that improvements should be made on the existing site if at all possible, as the library ismuch loved and very centrally located.

“Muswell Hill gets few resources from the Council and this is one relatively small project that would really benefit the area. The Council must therefore do all it can to secure the necessary funding.”

At last night’s Full Council, Liberal Democrats have given their firm backing to a motion promoted by the Living Streets campaign in Haringey – but called on Haringey Council to utter more than warm words on the issue.

Cllr Bob Hare, Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson who has worked closely with the Living Streets campaign in the borough, urged Haringey Council to back up their words with deeds. He cited the example of the New River Development in Hornsey, where an ocean of roadway has been allowed in that part of Hornsey High Street, creating an environment very unfriendly for pedestrians.

Bob Hare comments:

“We must do all we can to promote living streets in Haringey, but this amounts to far more than warm words from Labour, who very often fail to back up their warm words with deeds on the issue.

“Spending money on schemes such as better Haringey will not on its own solve the problem. We need a real change of attitude at the Council, one that puts Living Streets and pedestrians first.”

Haringey Labour has been asked to come clean about the astonishing 38% rise in Council Tax over the four budgets of the current Labour administration. The move follows last night’s setting of the Band D Council Tax at £1322.88, and repeated questioning of the Labour Council leader, who insisted again yesterday that the tax has risen by 32% since 2001.

A bad enough figure, say the Lib Dems, but less than the 38% increase local Council Tax payers have in fact had to endure.

Lib Dem Finance Spokesperson Cllr Stephen Gilbert also says that the figure could have been even higher, but for behind-the-scenes pressure from the Labour Environment Minister, who wrote to Haringey Council last year demanding that Labour’s planned seven-percent-plus increase be curbed.

Labour also faced further criticism last night for failing to address the impact of the tax increase on Haringey pensioners. When asked how much pensioners would save under the Lib Dems’ proposal of a local income tax, Labour’s Finance Lead Member couldn’t answer.

Lib Dem Finance Spokesperson Stephen Gilbert (Fortis Green) comments:

“Haringey Labour has no answers to explain its astonishing increase in Council Tax over the four budgets of this Labour administration. They blame the Labour Government, which in turn blames the Labour Council. While this blame game within Labour continues, local people are having to find the money to pay the tax – and services are definitely not 38% better as a result.”

Lib Dem Group Leader Neil Williams (Highgate) adds: “Local pensioners who do not pay income tax would pay nothing at all under Lib Dem proposals to replace Council Tax with a local income tax. It is a much fairer system.”