Nearly 9,000 pensioners in Haringey face the loss of their long trusted pension books in a Government move being opposed by the local Lib Dems. Liberal Democrat councillors will today propose a motion in the Full Council meeting to oppose plans by the Government to phase out the pension book as a method of paying the pension.

Pension books, which are used by 8,626 older people in Haringey are to be ended by 2005 as the Government -imposed timetable of change takes affect. The Lib Dems are concerned that people who are happy with their pension books are being forced to change to alternatives that are both complicated and confusing.

The Government plans to replace the pension book with three alternative ways that the elderly can receive their pension:

* Into a normal bank or building society account

* Into a new basic bank account

* Through a new Post Office Card Account

Although the Lib Dems acknowledge that these are different services they are unhappy that the pension book is not being retained. They are also concerned about aspects of the alternative means of payment.

Highgate councillor Neil Williams, who is proposing the motion, is concerned about the complexity of the application process for the Card Account. He is also concerned about pensioners who forget their new card PIN numbers. There is currently no way that a pensioner can access their money without using a PIN.

Cllr Williams hopes to have the full support from both sides of the Council. He says that this motion’s aim is to ensure that the elderly do not have to worry about how to claim their pension.

Cllr Neil Williams (Highgate) comments:

“The Government has made a decision without assessing the worry and stress that these changes will have on many among our elderly population. Over 40% of pensioners in Haringey and over 50% nationally use the pension book. These are not changes that will effect a small minority, but a huge section of the community. I hope that the Labour group will support our motion and make the Government reconsider the implications of this change.”

A survey of local Train Operating Companies by the Liberal Democrats reveals continuing severe problems in WAGN and Silverlink services, with one in six trains delayed and services only marginally better than two years ago, when services were at their worst. Neither company has reached the standard that it achieved in April 1997. At present rates of improvement, neither will have reached 1997 standards until near the end of the decade.

Lib Dem transport spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone comments:

“This will confirm that Haringey train users continue to suffer delays. While both companies have shown some improvements over the past two years, far too many services are still delayed.It could be another three to five years before we return to the standard when Labour took over in 1997. There is a huge amount of work to be done if local services are to return to the reliability levels when the Tories privatised the system.”

Liberal Democrat councillors were pleased to receive the news that the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) committee will be monitoring the project to create the Bernie Grant Centre (BGC) in Tottenham. The news comes four months after Lib Dem deputy leader Wayne Hoban raised concerns about a number of assumptions in costings and the role and accountability of the management board to the O&S committee via the ‘call-in’ procedure.

The development planned for Tottenham is being hailed by the Council as a centrepiece to the regeneration programme in the east of the Borough. However, following a meeting on the BGC committee on Tuesday (2nd September) it was announced that the O&S committee would be monitoring the project to ensure that many of the concerns raised by Cllr Hoban are adequately addressed.

The Lib Dems claim that much of the development plan is based on ‘assumed’ funding and tax breaks, although none had been confirmed at the time of the decision. Their concern has been that, far from regenerating the borough, the project could plunge the Council further into debt with a potential liability of up to £3 million if the project failed.

Cllr Hoban is pleased that the project will be monitored closely but is keen to emphasise the importance of ensuring the management board is fully accountable, representative and has the necessary skills to make this regeneration project a success.

Cllr Hoban (Alexandra ward) comments:

“I am pleased that O&S have committed to scrutinising decisions made by the Executive committee on this project. However, we want to ensure that plans do not expose the Council to significant financial risk.

“It is also essential that we have a fully representative, accountable and skilled board that will make the Centre a real asset to Tottenham and the borough as a whole. We will continue to work hard to make sure that this project is developed with the interests of Haringey’s residents in mind.”

Liberal Democrats in Haringey have welcomed the publication of the Government’s Green paper on child protection but have warned that there are still serious concerns about Haringey Council’s ability to protect the rights of children. They say the Council is still wedded to secrecy and that this is hampering child protection work six months after the publication of Lord Laming’s Report into the death of Victoria Climbie.

Lib Dem Social Services Spokesperson Cllr Ron Aitken revealed that a report by NCH Action for Children, which provides a Children’s Rights service for Haringey children in care, indicates serious shortcomings in the Council’s ability to protect the rights of children. Labour executive member for Social Services had sought to keep this secret.

Cllr Aitken won a significant freedom of information victory by writing to the Council’s legal team demanding that the key report, which was discussed at a meeting of Councillors on 17 June, should be a public document. They confirmed that the public should be able to access the Report on 11 August.

Among the findings identified by NCH were;

* There is a gap in rights provision for young people leaving care who are aged 18 to 23 – under the Children Leaving Care Act they are entitled to support – but Haringey has only contracted NCH to act for children up to 18.

* NCH has “not been given the opportunity as yet to work at a strategic level within the Council for better implementation of children’s rights”.

* There has been no direct access to Harinet and getting contact details of children looked after has been difficult, as well as contacting social services staff by e-mail.

* NCH have been hampered by lack of resources from working with children in care who are placed outside Haringey.

Cllr Ron Aitken comments:

“I pay tribute to NCH for the work they are doing in Haringey. This report indicates six months after Laming that Haringey’s obsession with secrecy is undermining children’s rights. Basic sharing of information is simply not happening. It is also disgraceful that for political reasons Labour politicians sought to stop the report from being made public”.

Local residents living adjacent to the Arches industrial workshops, off St James’s Lane, N10 appear to be closer to alleviating the nightmare of abandoned vehicles and fly-tipping following over a year of pressure from Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone.

The Council, in reaction to the complaints by Cllr Featherstone, submitted plans last month. They propose to install a gate/fence to the Arches to deter fly-tippers and contain an Arches based car dealership blamed for many of the cars blocking the lane.

Since last year Cllr Featherstone has been pressing the Council to resolve the situation in St James’s Lane suggesting a number of solutions to tackle the problem ranging from fencing off the Arches to installing CCTV in the area. The Council has subsequently submitted a planning application for new fencing and a gate around the Arches and is confident that it will be erected quickly after planning permission is granted.

The Council has also agreed to investigate the problem of parking space monopolisation and congestion on the estate. Cllr Featherstone is pleased by the progress that is finally being made on this issue and has vowed to continue to press the case until the issues are resolved.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) comments:

“I am pleased that the Council has finally decided to act on the problems that have been causing a great deal of distress to residents near the estate for several years. The construction of the fence will help alleviate the problem of fly-tipping, but I will continue to press for better enforcement in the area with regard to fly-tipping and untaxed vehicles which are have been the source of such misery for too long.”

Local councillor Lynne Featherstone had vowed to continue the campaign to have basketball nets put up in Alexandra Park. Cllr Featherstone recently met some of the children who started the campaign. Over seventy children from Our Lady of Muswell, Fortismere and St James’ schools have signed a petition calling for basketball nets at Alexandra Park.

Cllr Featherstone has written to the Council’s Executive Member for Alexandra Palace urging him to listen to the local children and provide what would be an excellent facility, but has not yet received a response either way. She is determined not to let the issue rest.

Cllr Lynne Featherstone explains:

“A lot is said and written about the detachment of people, and especially young people, from politics and local representatives. The children who signed the petition have made a real effort to get involved in the democratic process, which is to be commended.

“It is now important that the Council listen to them – and I cannot see any reason for not being able to fulfil their wish for basketball nets to use. It is an excellent opportunity to show these children that local politics has a real impact on their lives and they have the power to influence it.”

Cllr Hoban, who represents Alexandra Ward, is also keen to highlight the importance of these types of facilities to young people in the community:

“Youth facilities need to be improved across the borough – this would be a quick, cost-effective way of making a good start. It is great that local children have come up with this idea for a practical improvement to the Alexandra Park, which has not been used to its full potential for some time.

“These children want to do something positive and now need the help of the Council. We cannot let people complain about children hanging around with nothing to do if we are not prepared to taken even basic steps like this to give them something productive to do.”

Police in Muswell Hill have agreed to ensure that the boroughs’ new police community support officers (PCSOs) take a more active role in dealing with the problem of flyposting on the Broadway after local councillor Lynne Featherstone wrote to them expressing the concerns of local residents on the issue.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) contacted community inspector Craig Middleton, who oversees beat operations in Haringey, detailing complaints that the Lib Dems had received on flyposting in recent months. Inspector Middleton responded last week confirming that the PCSOs would be directed to take a more active role in combating the problem on the Broadway.

Cllr Featherstone is pleased that the issue is being tackled and that PCSOs are being directed to serve the community effectively:

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am pleased that the issue of the flyposting is being taken seriously by the police in the area. It is a real scourge on the appearance of the Broadway. PCSOs have had a very positive impact on the streets of Haringey and they are ideally placed to tackle this problem in Muswell Hill.”

Local Lib Dems are calling for urgent action from the Council to regenerate two greens on Fortis Green. The two greens, at the end of Midhurst Avenue, are in a very poor condition and in desperate need of work. Local residents have raised the issue repeatedly over the years, but Fortis Green local councillor Matt Davies says that maintenance of the greens never seems to be consistent. In the past, residents have even clubbed together to donate substantial money for replanting of the flowerbeds.

The greens fall under the responsibility of Haringey Parks Service and Cllr Davies has been pressing them for action to be taken.

Cllr Davies (Lib Dem, Fortis Green) comments:

“The Council must act soon on this. The paths through the greens have raised and cracked paving stones throughout – there is a serious chance that someone could fall, and perhaps cost the Council a lot more than the cost of fixing the site now.

“Benches have been missing from the greens for sometime, and as well as the safety hazard, the potential of the open green space is not being met. The greens must be inspected and brought back up to an acceptable standard. Sometimes doing the little things promptly and well can make a great difference to local residents’ quality of life.”

Opposition Liberal Democrats have expressed alarm at admissions from the Post office that it is about to announce a rapid escalation in its plans to close branches in Haringey. The move follows a letter from the Post Office to Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams saying that it now intends to announce plans for closures on a borough by borough basis. The Post Office has not however, revealed when its plans for Haringey will be announced.

Lib Dems say that the speeding up of its closure plans for Haringey, backed by the Labour Government, are almost certain to put several more local post offices at risk. Lib Dems say that branches in Park Road and Archway Road have already been victims of the closure programme and several more branches may now follow as the Post Office attempts to shut down 3,000 branches across the country.

Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:

“I am calling on the Post Office to say now when it intends to put these plans on the table. At this stage, we don’t know which branches are likely to be affected. All too often, proposals to close post offices have appeared suddenly, giving opponents little time to campaign against a local closure, which is often a foregone conclusion.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Lynne, Featherstone adds:

“Any further closure plans will be a severe blow, especially for the thousands of local pensioners who use their post office every week. The Post Office must come clean as soon as possible on what it now plans for Haringey.”

Lib Dem Leader and GLA member Lynne Featherstone has secured a vital meeting this week with Mayor Ken Livingstone in an effort to put back on track plans for the new bus route between Muswell Hill and Swiss Cottage via Hampstead and Highgate. The delegation is to meet Mayor Livingstone at City Hall this Wednesday. It will be led by long serving bus campaigner Keith Tarn and will include key members of other local groups, such as the Highgate Society and Haringey Buswatch, who have also long supported the route.

Pressure has been growing on Ken Livingstone to intervene in the campaign for the route since Transport for London’s recent controversial attempt to shelve the plans. There has been a huge response from Muswell Hill and Highgate residents to the local Lib Dem campaign on the issue. Locals have been writing in large numbers to the Mayor to express their continued support for the route.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“This meeting will be a vital opportunity to impress upon Ken Livingstone how essential the new route is for Muswell Hill, Highgate and Hampstead. We will be urging the Mayor to overturn TfL’s ludicrous decision and to make real his promise to support the route when he was elected three years ago. Ken should be backing buses, and the campaign must have his full support.”