• Report highly critical of council’s handling of inquiry.
• ‘Cynical’ Labour council issues critical report on day of Climbie Inquiry publication.

The Lib Dems have criticised Haringey Council’s handling of the report from the Plank Inquiry into how the Labour-run council conducted itself during the Climbie Inquiry. During the inquiry, Haringey’s repeated failure to hand over vital documents was widely condemned.

The Lib Dems says the council issued the highly critical Plank Report on the same day as the Laming Inquiry was published, when attention was instead rightly focused on the outcome of the Laming Inquiry itself.

The Lib Dems have also revealed that Haringey acquired the services of a public relations company to ‘assist’ its press office in handling the reaction to the Laming Inquiry and the issue of the Plank Report.

The Plank Report into Haringey conduct during the Climbie Inquiry was completed in December, but publication was held back. The Lib Dems believe that senior Labour Councillors were allowed to see advance copies of the Plank Report, but this courtesy was not extended to any opposition councillors.

Ironically, the Lib Dems note that the report has heavily criticised the council’s handling of briefing for the opposition, whose main source of information on Haringey’s much criticised behaviour during the inquiry was the media. The report also identifies conflicts of interest between council officers and members, a lack of coordination and poor team-working.

It damningly concludes that the council failed to take the issue seriously enough or give it proper priority.

The Lib Dems now want the council to implement the recommendation that a project board is set up, including members of the opposition, to ensure that these mistakes do not occur again.

Lib Dem social services spokesperson, Ron Aitken, comments:

“We have written to the council to complain about their handling of the release of information to councillors, particularly yesterday.

“It seems the council has not yet learned the lesson of recent events. We will now be pushing to ensure that proper systems are established to avoid this situation in future.

“This report is not a small matter that the council members and senior managers can bury to save face. It has been published so that lessons are learned that will ensure that no other child suffers the way the Victoria Cimbie did.”

Liberal Democrat councillor for Muswell Hill, Cllr Ross Laird, has urged Haringey Council to intervene to save desperate residents in Connaught House, Connaught Gardens, N10.

The tenants face an uncertain future as their Housing Association, Housing 21, seeks to discontinue its contract with the Metropolitan Police who own the building.

Cllr Laird and Cllr Lynne Featherstone have been in constant contact with the two organisations to get a clearer understanding of the outcome for tenants, but it appears that there will be a lengthy hand over period from April at the latest, leaving most tenants in limbo and facing an uncertain future.

Cllr Laird commented:

“I have written to Haringey Council today to ask that they prepare themselves for the worst – local tenants in Connaught House face an uncertain future and have received no reassurance that their tenure will be secured.

“Haringey Council needs to be in a position whereby it can help these people, many of which are less well off families with young children. The tenants of the house have been there for several years, some as long as ten. They deserve to be recognised as a central part of the Muswell Hill community.

“They have had to endure years of underfunding from the Housing Association and the Metropolitan Police. I will continue to work with tenants to find a solution to their predicament.”

The Liberal Democrats have commended the efforts of the teachers and pupils of Haringey’s local secondary schools following the publication of the national secondary school league tables, but have warned that no great improvement in results will come until the council and government get behind the schools.

The league tables measure various indicators, including the percentage of 15 year olds achieving A * – C grades in GCSEs as well as the government’s new value added score that compares achievements with those of pupils nationally who had the same or similar prior attainments.

Cllr Ross Laird, Leader of the Official Opposition on Haringey Council, commented:

“The teachers and pupils of Haringey have worked very hard in difficult conditions and the improvements that we have seen this year are borne from their hard work and dedication.”

However Cllr Laird added that the lack of even more progress was also down to inadequate help from the Government:

“Purely and simply, the Government expects teachers to work miracles with the resources they are given.

“I’d like to see the local council putting in the same amount of effort as our teachers and pupils are every day. That means putting an end to attempts at short term solutions such as PFI and putting pressure on the Government to secure the extra finances and resources that the schools of Haringey deserve.”

• All the main planks in Haringey’s defence of its conduct were rejected.
• Senior managers and councillors should be held accountable, says Lamming.
• Lib Dems say senior councillors must now take responsibly and resign from their posts.

Cllr Lynne Featherstone, who submitted evidence to the Laming Inquiry, comments:

“This is a damning report into the conduct of the council, not just for the terrible tragedy of this event, but also because no one has accepted responsibility for it. The feeble attempts of Haringey’s managers and ruling councillors to escape this responsibility has been completely exposed and condemned by Lord Lamming. It is time they finally took responsibility and resigned. The lessons of Victoria’s death will not be learned if the very same politicians who have been so heavily criticised continue in charge of child protection in the borough.”

Notes:

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the resignation of George Meehan (leader), Josie Irwin (former lead member social services), Takki Sulaiman (executive member social services), Gina Adamou (former executive member social services), all of whom where members of Social Services committee when Victoria died.

REJECTED: Haringey’s contention that the overall failures of the council didn’t contribute to Victoria’s death (Para 6.3)

REJECTED: Haringey’s contention that the level of funding for Social Services (cut by the council) didn’t matter (6.94)

REJECTED: The degree of restructuring the council’s social services department did not cause problems (6.129)

On managements and councillors:

“It is my view that senior managers and lead members could and should have known about the serious deficiencies in Haringey’s Children’s services in early 1999.” (6.171)

“The manner in which a number of senior managers and elected councillors within Haringey discharged their statutory responsibilities to safeguard and protect the welfare of children living in the borough was an important contributory factor in the mishandling of Victoria’s case.” (6.560)

“I was left unimpressed by the manner in which a number of senior managers and councillors from Haringey sought to distance themselves from the poor practice apparent in Victoria’s case” (6.561)

[The report’s criticisms] “are directed not just at the front line staff…but at senior mangers and councillors.” (6.564)

Haringey’s Lib Dems have welcomed the announcement that the council is to sharply increase its spending on graffiti as a victory for the opposition and yet further evidence that the ruling Labour council is being pressured into implementing key Lib Dem policies in the borough. Haringey’s new head of waste management told a meeting of the ‘Keep Highgate Tidy’ Group last week that the council would be allocating the extra money and was considering how it should be spent.

The Lib Dems had made graffiti, and Haringey’s inaction in tackling the problem, a central feature of their election campaign last May, when they gained seat after seat from the Labour administration. Their graffiti-fighting fact sheet has also proved very popular with residents. In Highgate, Cllr Neil Williams has been working with local residents’ groups, who have organised a clean up – after Haringey Council refused to tackle the problem.

The Lib Dems made a manifesto pledge that Haringey’s paltry budget of £15,000 would be increased to the London average of £203,000. While the council’s new £50,000 budget will be a start, the Lib Dems are pressing to see what the council intends to do with the extra money.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson Lynne Featherstone comments:

“This new money is a step in the right direction, but is still at a level too low to tackle the graffiti problem really effectively in the borough. We will be looking to see how be this money should be spent. Nearly trebling the budget for graffiti is a sure sign that Labour are under pressure, and have been forced to respond to Lib Dem campaigns.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone, has handed in a petition signed by Haringey residents in a bid to save local post offices. Ms Featherstone presented the petition to Lib Dem Trade & Industry spokesman, Vincent Cable at the Houses of Parliament last week.

The signatures collected locally by the Lib Dems join over 100,000 others who have signed nationwide. Present plans by the Government and Royal Mail could see the closure of five post offices in the Hornsey and Wood Green area, and a further five in Tottenham. Last year, plans announced by Post Office Chief Executive David Mills envisaged that a third of urban post offices would close. In Hornsey and Wood Green, this would mean the loss of five out of the 16 post offices in the area.

Already this year, over 30,000 job losses nationwide have been announced. The Liberal Democrats blame the Labour government for the planned closures.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone, comments:

“If such a huge closure programme goes ahead, we will lose several post offices in Haringey. We must put as much pressure as possible on Labour and the Post Office to make them change their minds.”

As the prospect of war with Iraq grows nearer, Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone is writing to Haringey’s two Labour MPs calling on them to withhold their support for military action, unless it is backed by a United Nations resolution.

The Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson says that the borough’s two Labour MPs have been conspicuous in their silence on the war issue, despite the outspoken reservations of much more senior members of the government, such as Cabinet Minister Claire Short.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“There is a strong feeling in Haringey that our two Labour MPs have done nothing to address the concerns of local residents over the prospect of war with Iraq, and that they have a duty to speak out.

“Both Barbara Roche and David Lammy should be counselling caution. The public in Haringey do not support a war where there is no mandate from the United Nations, and expect a lead from their local MPs.”

Lib Dems have expressed satisfaction with their performance in the Tottenham Hale by-election, increasing their share of the vote in a tough contest. The official opposition on Haringey Council increased its vote in both real and percentage terms, rising from 14% to 20%.

The Labour vote was substantially down from 54% to 46%. The Tory bid to return to Haringey Council ended in failure, and the party remains without any councillors anywhere in the borough.

Neville Collins, Lib Dem candidate, says:

“I am pleased to see our vote went up, in what was a very hard fought campaign, and that the Lib Dem vote in the ward turned out to support me, with more votes than last time. I would like to thank all the residents who came out to vote for myself and the party.”

Ross Laird, Leader of the Opposition on Haringey Council, adds:

“This was solid progress for us in Tottenham, and I am sure our support will rise further in future elections. From this result, local voters will see that the Tories simply cannot win in places like Tottenham Hale.

“The Tories abortive come-back bid totally failed and they still have no seats on the council. Voting Tory only helps the unpopular Labour council to hang on. Local people are fed up with this council, as the fall in the Labour vote clearly shows.”

The relaxation of national planning guidelines has created a ‘gold rush mentality’ among developers in the Couch End and Hornsey area, local Lib Dem councillors have warned.

The Lib Dems say that controversial planning applications in Crouch End are becoming a more regular feature at monthly council planning committee meetings, and are often pushed through against the wishes of local residents.

Cllr David Winskill, as far back as August 1999, asked Haringey to produce an overall development plan for the area so that large unwelcome planning applications could be dealt within a framework that would give much more weight to the views of local residents and the needs of the community. Cllr Winskill has written again to the Labour council to see if resources can be found to produce a local plan for the area.

The Lib Dems have voiced their concerns about three controversial planning issues currently under consideration. The party says that Crouch End is suffering from unimaginative over-development, and has highlighted three proposed schemes:

Oakfield Court – Haslemere Road

This Tuesday’s Planning Committee is likely to turn down an application for extra units. Local residents have produced some compelling planning reasons for not allowing visually intrusive additions to an existing block but are concerned that the developers will appeal or submit a modified application.

Local Lib Dem councillor Ron Aitken comments:

“We hope that the developers will get the message and not appeal against the decision or make any further applications”

British Telecom development – Crouch End Hill

Following the collapse of the council’s CPZ proposals for Crouch End, the Lib Dems are urging Barclay Homes to drop any plans for restaurant and bar use on the site. Instead they are supporting Barclay’s application for six flats in the restaurant space.

Local councillor David Winskill comments:

“The traffic implications for local residents would be truly horrendous if the restaurant were to be developed. We are also asking Haringey and the developers to carefully review traffic implications if the fitness centre and supermarket plans are taken further. We hope that this time Haringey will directly engage with the local community from the very beginning if there is a new application.”

Texaco Service Station – Tottenham Lane

The Lib Dems believe the controversial application should be turned down.

Cllr David Winskill comments:

“Crouch End has become a honey pot for developers over the years. This development has demonstrated just how greedy they have become and are prepared to totally disregard the views of local residents and steal sunlight from primary school children. I believe Haringey, despite the officer’s report, has grounds for turning this application down and pushing for a much smaller scale project on this important landmark site.”

Commenting on the planning laws generally, he went on:

“Overall, planning laws have drifted far too much towards developers. In Crouch End this has created a gold rush mentality which has had a very serious affect on the community. All too often the council tries to push unwelcome development through. The area needs a local plan. I will be writing to the Labour lead member to see if resources can be found to produce one.”

Interactive road signs in Haringey could reduce the amount of accidents in the borough, according to Cllr. Lynne Featherstone.

The Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill has suggested the new signs, which flash up reminders of the speed limit when traffic approaches too fast, for Cranley Gardens in Muswell Hill – a speeding black spot on which the Lib Dems have campaigned for a long period.

Although interactive signs have not been around long enough for official statistics, Ms Featherstone says that the feedback from road safety officers in the South West is that residents have noticed a reduction in speeding. As a result, local communities have claimed that their quality of life has been improved – as have drivers who claim it is useful to be reminded of the speed limit in certain areas.

Cranley Gardens is an area that suffers from speeding problems. It has one sharp bend and residents’ parking makes visibility for drivers very poor.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We need to take action on speeding in Cranley Gardens. Instead of the Labour councils blanket approach of CPZs and road humps to all traffic problems, it is time to explore more imaginative ways to deal with traffic issues in Haringey. This is certainly one idea that should be considered as a serious option.”