Haringey’s Liberal Democrat councillors have called the appointment of former Islington Labour leader, Margaret Hodge, as the new children’s minister as ‘inappropriate’ and have called on the Government to remove her from her new post following reports of her failings as Leader of Islington Council to deal with council staff abusing children in care in the 1980s and 90s.

Social Services Spokesman Ron Aitken says that it is particularly inappropriate that someone who has failed in fulfilling their duties as Council Leader should be given such an important new ministerial role created following the Laming enquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie, where once again Labour council leaders were condemned for their failures.

Lib Dem social services spokesperson, Ron Aitken comments:

“Appointing Margaret Hodge continues the practice of allowing Labour politicians to avoid the blame for catastrophic child protection failures. It confirms the culture of leaving junior staff to carry the can which Lord Laming so rightly slammed, and shows how new Labour have not taken heed of Lord Laming’s conclusions.”

Local Lib Dem councillors say that Haringey’s waste contractors, Haringey Accord, are leaving wheelie bins on the streets, even where the residents have a special collection due to disability. Last week, Cllr Lynne Featherstone presented a video CD to the Council showing waste collection contractors, Accord failing to put back a bin on a property in Woodstock Road, N4 which had an arrangement in place for an assisted collection.

The video footage, made by a local resident in April, shows the wheelie bins left in the middle of Woodstock Road for 14 minutes then placed in the middle of the pathway when emptied. This was the case right along the street. However it was of a particular problem to the resident who is partially disabled and has found her pathway regularly blocked by the bin.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) presented the evidence to embarrassed Council officials, who said that they were extremely disappointed that a resident with a special arrangement had been let down. Haringey agreed it would take up the issue with senior management of Accord immediately.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“Hopefully this hard evidence so cleverly collected by a local resident will force the council to ensure that Haringey Accord improves its collection service.

“Local people pay a very high council tax of which a huge amount is now going to Accord to clean up the borough. If Haringey don’t make Accord shape up – then residents may make their Labour bosses at the council ship out next time they get a chance.”

Recycling and waste minimisation in Haringey will be under the microscope following the Council’s Environment scrutiny panel decision to follow the Lib Dems’ suggestion and make the issue the subject of their annual review.

Lib Dem environment spokesperson, Cllr Bob Hare, who put forward the proposals, has been an active campaigner on environmental issues in the borough for a number of years. Haringey has a very poor record on recycling and waste with a 5% recycling rate in 2002. Cllr Hare is delighted that the scrutiny panel has agreed to take up the review, which will look into how the borough moves towards achieving the Government recycling and waste minimisation targets.

Cllr Hare (Highgate) comments:

“I am pleased that this review is now going to take place. The state of recycling services is very important to residents in Haringey. My colleagues and I receive huge amounts of correspondence regarding waste and recycling, and a national survey shows that nearly 90% of people want better recycling. I hope that this review will address some of these issues in the borough.”

Cllr Susan Oatway (Alexandra ward), who is also on the scrutiny panel and strongly supports the review, adds:

“These issues need to be addressed. Haringey’s recycling rate is woefully low, at 5% in 2002. I hope that the review will help identify what the Council could do to raise the level of recycling towards the Government target of 25% of household waste by 2005.”

Liberal Democrats in Haringey have renewed their call for resignations of senior managers and politicians involved in the tragic death of Victoria Climbie. The development follows renewed criticisms of senior figures in a report by the Health Select Committee in Parliament.

The Lib Dems argue that junior staff have been left to carry the can whilst politicians and senior managers have held onto their posts or gone on to better paid jobs. Mary Richardson the Director of Social Services at the time of Victoria’s death went on to be a director in a neighbouring borough as did Carol Wilson, an Assistant Director who followed a similar path.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson Ron Aitken comments:

“The Select Committee have once again highlighted the fact that those in charge failed to take any responsibility for what happened to Victoria Climbie, letting overworked junior staff take the blame.

“This further criticism from Lord Laming underlines the need for senior politicians and managers involved in Victoria’s death to examine their consciences and resign”.

Note- Health Select Committee report into Victoria Climbie Inquiry – Paragraph 38:

“The Inquiry Report highlighted the apparent failure of those in senior positions to understand, or accept, that they were responsible for the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of local services. Indeed, Lord Laming pointed to the ‘yawning gap’ in the differing perceptions of the organisation held by front line staff and senior managers. Lord Laming was unequivocal that the failure was the fault of managers whose job it should have been to understand what was happening at their ‘front door.’ As the Report pointed out, some of those in the most senior positions used the defence “no one ever told me” to distance themselves from responsibility, and to argue that there was nothing they could have done. This was not a view shared by Lord Laming, nor is it our view.”

Transport for London has told local councillor and GLA member Lynne Featherstone that they will complete the evaluation of the proposed new bus route between Muswell Hill and Swiss Cottage via Hampstead and Highgate in July. The proposed bus route is one which Ms Featherstone and local campaigners have long been pressing TfL to introduce.

In a letter this week, TfL have said that they are in the final stages of the evaluation process, following a technical report by the firm Faber Maunsell – the report addresses the bus priority measures needed along the route to ensure its smooth running.

Ms Featherstone has asked to see a copy of the consultants’ report, and says she is now optimistic that TfL will soon have to make a decision on the route, following Mayor Ken Livingstone’s promise to support it.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“For all of us pushing for this vital route, let’s hope we are now on the final countdown to a green light from TfL.Local people have been waiting long enough.

Highgate Councillor Melanie Simpson comments:

“TfL must see the logic of the route, and I hope that all remaining obstacles can now be swiftly overcome. The route will be really great news for Highgate, and make journey to Muswell Hill to the north and Hampstead and Swiss Cottage to the south, very much easier.”

Figures published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister this week on the collection rate of Council Tax in the UK place Haringey in the bottom 20 councils in the country for tax collection.

Cllr Jonathan Bloch (Muswell Hill) comments:

“The figures show just how poor the collection rate is in the borough, with over 7 per cent of residents in Haringey not paying their Council Tax. The London average for collections is 94 per cent.

“With council taxes set for further shocking rises, Haringey Council needs to focus efforts on a dramatic improvement in collections this year, otherwise our already over-stretched services will suffer.”

Haringey Council’s PFI scheme for schools is putting profits before pupils, according to Liberal Democrat councillors. The Lib Dems have learned that schools are having to compromise on the timing of events such as parents’ evenings in order to be able to host other events on school premises.

Many schools in the borough are run by Jarvis, who manage the buildings and are charged with the maintenance and renting out of school buildings in the evenings and at weekends. The Lib Dems have previously expressed their concern at rises in hall hire prices, while the Audit Commission has questioned the effectiveness of PFI in the running and construction of school buildings.

However what is of deeper concern to Lib Dem leader, Ross Laird, is how powerless schools are in using their facilities after 7.00pm without Jarvis’ approval. Schools must ask Jarvis to book events in advance, and even then, can only do so if a private outside group has not already done so. The result is that many events for parents and pupils are compromised or moved to outside venues.

Cllr Ross Laird comments:

“It is wrong that schools in the borough have to make compromises in order to fit in events such as parents’ evenings before the 7pm change over. The result is that many working parents miss such events and thus miss an opportunity to find out more about their child’s progress and educational needs.

“Jarvis has got to be made aware that pupils come before profits, and we will be working hard to ensure that they do.”

Lynne Featherstone, Muswell Hill councillor, who has previously taken up the issue of charges to local voluntary organisations for use of school facilities, comments:

“This is yet another example of how people in Haringey are losing out because of Labour’s PFI contract. I have previously taken up the problems that local groups have faced over increases in charges for the use of rooms. This time, it is schools themselves that are suffering, and having to play ‘second fiddle’ to other private finance priorities.”

The Met Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, has today accepted a challenge from Lib Dem GLA member and local councillor Lynne Featherstone to give her a helping hand to her campaign to have Muswell Hill police station’s front counter reopened to the public.

The move came at this morning’s full meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority, on which Ms Featherstone sits. When Sir John said he was against all front counter closures, Lynne Featherstone asked if he would lend a personal hand in getting Muswell Hill police front counter re-opened – and Sir John said he would be “delighted”.

Commenting Lynne Featherstone said:

“I am extremely pleased that Sir John is going to help the Muswell Hill campaign. Local residents want the counter open, so much so that they have come forward themselves as volunteers to help staff the counter.

“With Sir John’s personal offer of help – together with Haringey’s new police chief Stephen Bloomfield’s willingness to review the situation – I am optimistic that we are now going to get the backing to make it happen”.

Four of the filthiest railway embankments in north London are to get a deep clean thanks to the persistence of Lynne Featherstone, Haringey councillor and London Assembly transport spokesperson.

The four stations – Hornsey, Harringay, Bowes Park and Alexandra Palace – all have embankments strewn with litter and are an unpleasant sight for commuters using WAGN train services.

Lynne Featherstone contacted Network Rail and, after some difficulty, tracked down the correct department to ask them to clean up the rubbish immediately. Although they refused to meet her at one of the stations to discuss the problem, Network Rail have promised to clear the embankments of litter within 28 days.

Ms Featherstone welcomed this news: “At long last these eyesores are to be swept clean.

“Network Rail must stop shirking its responsibility to maintain the embankments surrounding stations.

She added: “If others wish to complain about the state of their local station embankments, they should contact Network Rail’s community relations department on 08457 114 141.”

Wood Green residents are unhappy with the state of the NHS, with significant numbers of residents reporting serious problems finding a local GP or a dentist, according to the results of a survey by the local Lib Dems.

In addition to the findings, which reveal that more than one in five residents face difficulty in securing these vital primary care services, almost half, 47% say they are unhappy with the state of the local NHS.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone comments:

“These figures show a worrying lack of confidence in the NHS and reveal genuine problems in securing essential dental and general practice care.It is worrying to see that local GP services appear as overstretched as NHS dentistry in Wood Green. If the front line of the service is failing to meet patients’ needs to this degree, the NHS will only have to pay later for more serious problems.”