Cllr Ross Laird, Muswell Hill Lib Dem Councillor, has welcomed Haringey Council’s announcement that work on repairing the railings outside Muswell Hill Primary School will go ahead this week, starting Monday 9th September.

Haringey Council confirmed work would be starting this week following urgent calls from Cllr Laird for the heavily used railings to be repaired.

Cllr Laird commented: “This is welcome news. The railings were an eyesore and dangerous for people sitting on them waiting for their buses. I am glad the Council has finally acted in response to our urgent calls.”

Following revelations earlier this week that Haringey Council had attempted to intervene in statements being collected by the Government’s Social Services Inspectorate during its investigations into Haringey Council, Lib Dem councillor Ron Aitken has obtained copies of correspondence received by ‘Ms B’.

According to the correspondence, the SSI sent out its question forms on 14 January 2002.Ken Adams of the SSI said in the covering letter;

“We place great importance on collecting the views of people who have used the (social) services, and will be very grateful for your help in this. Please return your questionnaire directly to me in the envelope provided.”

However, a letter from Haringey Social Services was then received by “Ms B” dated 16th January 2002 which stated:

“You should have by now received a Questionnaire for Parents from the Social Services Inspectorate who will be inspecting Children’s Services in Haringey from the 4th-21st February 2002.”

“We anticipate the form is likely to take between 1-2 hours to complete, and we have employed a team of administration staff to help you complete the questionnaire at your home address, if required…”

This letter was signed “Yvonne Doyle – Team Lead SSI Inspection.” Another Social Services officer later contacted Ms B to make an appointment, but Ms B declined the offer of ‘assistance’ and instead forwarded her completed forms direct to the SSI as they had requested.

Ron Aitken comments: “Having seen these letters, it is clear that this is an appalling misuse of Social Services Funds and calls into question whether the Authority is still obstructing a proper assessment of its children’s services.”

Hornsey and Wood Green Liberal Democrats last night selected local party leader Lynne Featherstone to be their Parliamentary spokesperson. Ms Featherstone, who is also a member of the Greater London Authority, stood for the party in the general elections of 1997 and 2001, where she is credited with having hugely increased the Lib Dem share of the vote in Hornsey and Wood Green at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour.

The Hornsey and Wood Green Parliamentary seat is now widely regarded as an excellent prospect for the Liberal Democrats, with key election pundits now tipping the seat as a close contest between the party and Labour.The recently published Political Map of Britain says the seat has “the possibility of a Lib Dem gain from Labour” at the next general election. The Lib Dems comfortably outpolled Labour in the recent local elections and Conservative Central Office, having seen the Tory vote pushed down to third place and just 16%, have left the seat off their list of targets for the next election.

Despite being nationally advertised, Lynne Featherstone’s renowned track record of local campaigning led to no other challengers for the nomination.She was therefore selected unanimously.

Speaking after the selection meeting, Lynne Featherstone said:

“I am delighted to have been chosen as Parliamentary spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, and look forward to the challenge ahead. I will be campaigning, as I have always done, on the key issues that matter to local people, such as tackling crime, the health service, education, and of course transport. I will also continue to campaign to get rid of the borough’s dreadful Labour council.”

Former party president, Valerie Silbiger, said of Lynne Featherstone’s appointment:

“We are tremendously fortunate to have Lynne as our Parliamentary spokesperson. We will all continue to work closely with her over the coming years, and we are increasingly confident of future successes with Lynne at the helm.”

There were celebrations and satisfaction this weekend, as the long awaited 234 bus extension towards Highgate got underway, but not without the occasional hiccup.The route, which used to terminate at East Finchley station, now has the destination plate of ‘Highgate Wood – Sussex Gardens,’ as it has been extended to the gyratory system at the top the Archway Road. Local residents now have much better access to East Finchley and, for the first time, a direct route to the shops and services of Muswell Hill.

However the route was not without its initial problems, as reported by Sussex Gardens Residents’ Association Secretary, Eric Dalton. Buses were still showing the ‘old’ headboard reading East Finchley Station, and only some of the drivers seemed aware of the new destination. One driver refused to carry some passengers more knowledgeable than he, saying they could not go beyond the station. They refused to get off, and eventually he gave in and carried then to the new terminus near Sussex Gardens.

Residents have however, managed to board the bus without problems at the Highgate Wood end.

Eric Dalton comments: “I was able to flag down two 234’s at the Sussex Gardens stop, just to test the service, and one passenger actually got on. So some drivers know about the extension and some don’t. We have reported the problems to Metroline, so hopefully the system will settle down.”

Lib Dem Leader Lynne Featherstone, who has campaigned alongside residents for the route extension comments: “After a slightly bumpy start, I’m sure the new route will prove a success. It will serve to join up local bus services, and really should have been introduced years ago. The local residents and members of Buswatch deserve huge credit for their campaign to make this happen.”

Local Liberal Democrats have called for action over figures showing a shocking increase in the cost of hiring temporary doctors by Haringey Health Care NHS Trust.

The figures – supplied in a Parliamentary written answer – show that between 2000 ands 2001 the cost of locum doctors to Haringey Health Care NHS Trust has risen from £68,000 to a staggering £970,000 – the third biggest rise out of several hundred health authorities. Lib Dems says that in agency fees alone the increasing use of temporary staff is costing an estimated £300,000 per year – money that could be spent on embattled health services in the borough.

Lib Dem Deputy Leader, Cllr Ross Laird, comments: “This huge increase in the cost of temporary doctors in Haringey is unacceptable. It is a total waste that such a huge amount of money will go into the pockets of employment agencies.It shows that under Labour, ministers are not recruiting enough doctors, and it is local services such as ours that are having to bear the brunt.

“There will always be a need for locum doctors to fill gaps in the service, but such a huge increase shown that we are now having to rely on them. The Audit Commission has already questioned the value for money of such a system.”

Notes

• On average agencies take a fee of 30% of the total amount charged to the NHS. Therefore, the NHS paid over £40 million nationally to agencies in administrative charges and profit.
• On average, each acute NHS trust is now spending £750,00 on agency doctors, with some acute NHS trusts spending many times more than others. St Mary’s NHS Trust in North West London, for example, spent over £4 million on agency doctors in 2000-01. This is five times the sum the average acute trust spends on agency doctors. South Devon Health Care NHS Trust spending has, over five years, increased seven fold to £1.3 million.
• In 1999, the Audit Commission report Cover Story – The use of Locum Doctors in NHS Trusts cast serious doubts over the efficacy and quality of care provided by agency doctors, suggesting that with proper hospital management many locums would not be needed. The report also suggested that hospitals should try to reduce the need for locums.
• Figures quoted are from a Parliamentary answer given to Sandra Gidley MP (20 Jun 2002: Column: 562W).

Local Liberal Democrats, the Official Opposition on Haringey Council, have reacted angrily to news that Labour is planning an inflation-busting council tax rise.Labour-run Haringey Council is planning a 9.1% increase to council tax on top of a 2.5% allowance for inflation, which will be discussed at the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Monday September 2nd.

“The people of Haringey have been led up the garden path by Labour,” said Lib Dem Deputy Leader Ross Laird. “In 1998, they made promises on council tax and broke them. During this year’s elections, they kept their mouths shut and kept the voters in the dark. Now we are seeing why they didn’t tell the voters their plans before the election.

“Labour have got away with this deception over council tax for two elections – but local residents will not let them get away with it next time,” he said. “We all have the right to expect honesty and transparency from our councillors, but it seems that Haringey Labour simply do not care what residents think.”

If Labour get their way with the proposed tax hike, the end effect for taxpayers is likely to be even worse. The 9.1% applies to the Haringey part of council tax. The GLA precept – money that is used to fund the Greater London Authority – is additional. With that likely to rise, local residents will be hit very hard next year.

Local councillors in the Muswell Hill are this week urging local residents to turn out in big numbers at the vital public meeting they have organised in conjunction with the police over the reopening of the front counter of Muswell Hill police station.

The meeting is being organised by councillors in the three wards most effected (Muswell Hill, Fortis Green and Alexandra), along with the full cooperation of the police.Local councillors have started leafleting the area over the weekend to ensure that residents have the details and many residents have volunteered to deliver leaflets themselves to help spread the message.

Haringey Police are set to make a decision on the future of the station after the meeting, which is on Wednesday 18th September at 7.30pm at the Muswell Hill Centre, Hillfield Park, N10, at the bottom of the Marks & Spencer car park.

Lynne Featherstone comments: “This meeting is really the key one, as it will give the police the chance to explain to residents how a volunteer scheme would work, on the basis of similar successful schemes up and running elsewhere in London. We can also look at how to best use the station, such as possibly using it more for neighbourhood watch meetings and councillors surgeries. The police have said they will use the turnout at the meeting as a key factor in deciding whether or not to press ahead.”

The local councillor says it is also vital that those who can’t attend make their feelings over the front counter known, by sending an email to lynne@lynnefeatherstone.org.

Ross Laird, Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill, has called for urgent action by Haringey Council and other agencies to clean up a disgusting lake of emerald green slime in St James’s lane Muswell Hill.The Lib Dems say the slime is health hazard and is forming a huge pool of filth near the Performing Arts Centre.

Councillor Ross Laird, who has inspected the site several times, said:

“This is just disgusting, and Haringey must act.The blocked drainage at this site raises concerns about health and the environment, and I am sure there are plenty of kids about.”.

The Liberal Democrats in Haringey have demanded an explanation as to why the Labour Council’s Social Services department apparently tried to influence the evidence being given by residents as part of an inquiry by the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) into Haringey’s child protection service.

Ms B, who has made a formal complaint about the placement of her son by Haringey without adequate sex offender checks, has told Liberal Democrat Social Services Spokesperson Ron Aitken that she was contacted by the Council who offered her help to fill in the survey and that they would forward it to the SSI. It is not known how Haringey obtained the names of those contacted by the SSI or how many entrusted their survey forms to Haringey social workers.

Ms B, who does not want her name published, says:

“I received a questionnaire from the SSI, but Haringey Social Services somehow found out and sent me a letter saying an admin worker would help me fill the form in. Someone called Fay from Social Services rang me to arrange to come round but I refused to make an appointment.

“Later at a case conference with Haringey Social Services I was asked if I had brought the forms along. Of course I had sent it direct to the SSI in the envelope they provided, and the SSI later contacted me as they were so concerned about the complaints I had made”.

Lib Dem Spokesperson Ron Aitken has called for a full explanation by Haringey, particularly in the light of the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie which is due to report later this month.

He comments:

“The Laming inquiry has persistently criticised Haringey Council for its attitude towards presenting accurate evidence. It is very disturbing news that the Council may have been interfering with the collection of evidence by the SSI.”

The Lib Dem Councillors in Fortis Green have launched a petition among the residents of one of Muswell Hill’s best known roads demanding a clean up from Labour-run Haringey council.

Councillor Stephen Gilbert and his two colleagues, Matt Davies and Barbara Fabian, have circulated a petition to all the houses in Queen’s Avenue, near the Broadway, asking them to join his efforts to press the Council to increase the level of street cleansing. Cllr Gilbert, who himself lives in the street, says that given the road’s location near the busy centre of Muswell Hill, it needs a higher priority.

Lib Dem Cllr Stephen Gilbert comments:

“As a resident of Queen’s Avenue as well as the local councillor, I know how bad things often are near the Broadway, with rubbish strewn everywhere. Haringey Accord needs to increase the street cleaning in this very busy road. It is one of the architectural gems of Muswell Hill, and the Council should not get away with leaving it in such a sorry state for much of the time.”

The launch of the petition follows previous refusals by Labour councillors to support more frequent street cleaning in the street.