A report from the Audit Commission has said that Haringey Council’s scrutiny process is “weak” and that “the majority of items considered have little chance of resulting in changes to policy”.

The bleak outlook follows an examination of whether the role of scrutiny was working effectively within the Labour-run authority. The report concludes that there are significant problems including a failure to properly resource inquiries, a lack of planning, too much time spent on receiving non-relevant information, and no follow-up when reports are completed.

Local Liberal Democrats have repeatedly called for changes to the scrutiny system on the Council, and have welcomed the Audit Commissions report. At last nights meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny committee, Lib Dem members pressed for an urgent meeting to discuss the Audit Commissions finding and the Council’s response.

Commenting, Leader of the LibDem group Councillor Neil Williams said:

“This report is damning of Haringey. Scrutiny committees are the watchdogs of the Council, they attempt to ensure that money is being spent efficiently and plans are being implemented effectively. They have a vital role in helping to run local services. I welcome the Audit Commissions findings and will now be pressing the Council to make changes to the process.”

Councillor Stephen Gilbert, who proposed an urgent meeting to discuss the report added:

“This report reinforces what we have been saying for sometime, that Haringey does not run scrutiny properly. If that’s not bad enough, they have tried to sweep it under the carpet. I’m pleased we will be having a special meeting to discuss the issues it raises – serious questions need to be asked.”

Local Lib Dems are demanding that Crescent Road Post Office is included in a review by the Post Office of its controversial branch closure plans. The news follows a campaign and petition by local Lib Dems to keep the branch open.

With five Haringey post offices earmarked for closure, the Government is moving to conduct a review of the Post Office’s controversial method of selecting branches for closure.

Lib Dems fear that the review could come too late to save the Crescent Road branch, and are urging the Post Office to include it in any review plans.

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Cllr Lynne Featherstone comments:

“For months, we have had a situation where branches are being closed on an entirely random basis. This is unacceptable and I would welcome any review. However it must cover all branches including the one at Crescent road.”

Alexandra ward councillor and Lib Dem Deputy Leader Wayne Hoban adds:

“The Post Office must include Crescent Road in the review, as many local residents are dismayed at the closure plan, and will have to travel some distance to the nearest alternative branch. Earmarking branches for closure in this way is not acceptable and a full review must be undertaken.”

Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone is demanding an immediate explanation as to why Haringey Council has backed down from a decision to ban parking at the Tetherdown end of Pages Lane, Muswell Hill.

The call comes after complaints from residents that lorries delivering to a tile centre on the corner have been granted parking permits by Haringey Council. This is despite assurances two years ago, when yellow lines were painted, that the centre would never get permission to use the area as a receiving depot.

The road, which is a busy route for school children, is very narrow and two years ago local residents and Lib Dem councillors successfully lobbied the Council to place parking restrictions on the area because of the hazards caused to drivers and pedestrians by the parking.

Ms Featherstone has contacted Haringey to express her astonishment that the Council has appeared to have a change of heart after two years of successfully enforcing parking restrictions. She is seeking an immediate explanation as to why the Council has gone back on its word.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“I am deeply concerned by this news and I am seeking an immediate explanation as to why the Council has made the road unsafe again for a mere £64 [cost of a permit].

“The return of the lorries has restarted the problems. The Council must take immediate action and reassert the agreement they made with us two years ago.”

Pavements in North Road, Highgate, will receive a make-over in the next few months after Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone secured assurances from Haringey Council that essential work would be budgeted for in the next financial year. The assurances will come as a relief to Highgate pedestrians and residents who have suffered cracked and loose paving stones caused by tree roots.

Ms Featherstone is pleased by the news but has pledged to pay close attention to the road and ensure that the repair work is taken sooner rather than later:

“I am pleased that we have secured funding to repair these hazardous pavements. Now that the funding is in place it is important that the repair work is carried out swiftly so that local residents are not inconvenienced any longer. I will be following this issue closely.”

Lib Dem Leader and Highgate councillor Neil Williams adds:

“The pavements in North Road have been a source of complaints for some months. Action was sorely needed on safety grounds as well as to improve the appearance of the footpath.”

In the by-election in Muswell Hill, Lib Dem candidate Gail Engert has put together five key pledges for the voters’ approval on 4th March. Gail Engert is also writing to residents this week to ask them for their views on the key issues that need tackling in the area following the local Lib Dems’ successes over the new bus route trial and the plans to reopen the Muswell Hill police station front counter.

Gail Engert’s pledges cover key environmental measures needed in the area, as well as tackling crime and improving transport:

·FIGHTING CRIME: Work to secure the successful reopening to the public of the Muswell Hill police station front counter

·IMPROVING TRANSPORT: Work to make a success of the trial bus route to Swiss Cottage and get a full service on the route

·ROAD SAFETY: Secure more improvements at the top and bottom of Muswell Hill, and a pedestrian crossing on Priory Road

·CLEAN UP THE AREA: Better street cleaning, more action on graffiti and more recycling

·PARK ROAD POOL: Labour’s privatisation plans mustn’t mean that swimmers or groups who use the rooms suffer

Gail Engert comments:

“The Lib Dem councillors in Muswell Hill have shown the Council how to do things better. These five issues will be my top priorities for Muswell Hill, and I am writing to local residents this week to ask them what they think, and to discuss other local issues that need tackling.”

Commenting on this morning’s collapse of a supporting wall at the former Queen’s Lodge (53 – 55 Queen’s Avenue) which destroyed part of a neighbouring resident’s garden, Liberal Democrat ward Councillor Stephen Gilbert said:

“The developers have been messing the Council around over recent months putting in applications for everything from a hotel to flats, and lastly for a residential care home.

“After representations from my colleague Matt Davies and a site inspection with council officers, the developer and builders were asked to make the site safe – but this clearly did not happen or did not happen quickly enough.

“The Council’s building control and planning departments must now work together to end the uncertainty over this development. I have asked council officers to urgently consider serving a notice to force the developers to get on with building the permissions they have, or to restore the site to its original condition.

“I will also be seeking an urgent meeting with the developer to discuss to damage caused to the neighbouring properties.”

Cllr Lynne Featherstone and her Lib Dem council colleagues have taken up complaints from local residents that Haringey Council has failed to consult them on a number of issues regarding developments on the Fortismere School site.

Ms Featherstone, along with Lib Dem councillors in Fortis Green, has received numerous complaints from residents in Burlington Road on issues such as light pollution, the treatment of trees and damage to road surfaces as a result of work carried out on the site by both the Council and contractors.

Although the Lib Dems acknowledge that many of the improvements have been necessary to the school, they are concerned that the lack of consultation has meant much unnecessary distress for residents in the area. Complaints include:

* Light pollution from high-level security lighting that overlooks the new parts of the school. Although ‘photocell’ lighting, they do not go on and off with movement.
* The thinning of two protected trees without consultation which has made the bright white sports hall visible as opposed to being hidden before.
* Badly potholed road and damaged pavements from developer’s vehicles using the road as an access site.
* Despite assurances, the failure of the Council to fence off a gate that is not meant to be in use but is used as a short cut to and from the school.

“Following our meeting with council officials, I am hopeful we can now have positive action to improve the situation. Residents’ concerns must be addressed,” says Lynne Featherstone.

Fortis Green councillor Stephen Gilbert adds:

“Residents in Burlington Road have suffered unnecessarily because the Council failed to consult them on a number of issues. I hope this episode is firmly on the way to being resolved and that Haringey Council will learn from its mistakes.”

The Lib Dem prospective candidate in the Muswell Hill by-election is calling on Haringey Council to end years of inaction on the speeding problem on Muswell Hill. Gail Engert says that in the last couple of months there have been three accidents at the bottom of the hill, with vehicles entering front gardens and putting pedestrians in danger.

The Lib Dems say that to date Haringey has been slow to act, and has only agreed to some speeding signs on the route. Gail Engert says that more measures are needed.The Lib Dems want to see speed cameras on the busy road or, at the very least, interactive speed signs. The Lib Dems had also requested that bollards are installed at the narrow section where Park Road joins Muswell Hill and where the three accidents happened, to protect pedestrians and residents living nearby. This has been agreed by the Council.

Local Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone has recently written to the Council stressing the seriousness of the situation, and has also asked for a site meeting. Gail Engert says she will make action a priority.

Gail Engert comments:

“The dangerous situation on Muswell Hill has gone on long enough. Traffic speeds down the hill, and this causes a serious hazard, especially near the junction at the foot of the hill. Measures must be taken to improve safety, and I will be working with Lynne Featherstone to press the Council to take the problem more seriously.”

As the controversy surrounding post office closures in Haringey continues, Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone is urgently seeking assurances from the Post Office over the future of major post office branch in Crouch End, N8.

The request comes after Ms Featherstone received information about a press release issued last week by supermarket chain Tesco regarding the opening of their new store in Crouch End, indicating that the company wishes to provide post office services within the store.

Local residents and Lib Dem councillors are concerned that Tesco’s new service may be a threat to the existing post office counter rather than an additional one to the area. Cllr Featherstone has written to George Hooper, Area Head of the Post Office Limited and requested the following:

·confirmation that the Crouch End Branch post office on Topsfield Parade, N8 will not close
·guarantee that other arrangements by the Post Office with local small vendors of stamps etc will remain in place
·guarantee that the Tesco provision of the post office services will be an expansion of existing services in the area

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“Lib Dems have been fighting closures all over the borough of these much valued services. We must ensure that local post office services in Crouch End remain, regardless of plans by Tesco.”

Lib Dem regeneration spokesperson and Crouch End councillor, David Winskill adds:

“The existing post office is much valued by local residents, and we need to know how this proposed service will affect the local branch.We will be following this issue closely.”

Local councillor and Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson Lynne Featherstone has been shortlisted for a prestigious award for her online musings on politics and life.

The nomination for Lynne’s popular local ‘blog’ [weblog] comes from the Guardian Unlimited, which has shortlisted 12 website diaries nation-wide for a prize.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I enjoy writing the blog about the Greater London Authority and the council, and it is nice to see that readers appreciate it. I’ll be watching the final results of the Guardian’s competition with interest.”

The blog is at www.lynnefeatherstone.org/blog.htm.

The nomination quoted by the Guardian reads:

“How about Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem councillor in Haringey and London Assembly member? She manages to combine critical coverage of Livingstone’s London with pointed comments about the inadequacies of Labour’s administration in Haringey, at the same time actively promoting Lib Dem values and policies. She seems a very active and honest person, and I am sure her blog will help her to success at the next general election.”