A public debate on tougher enforcement of local by-laws which can take action against residents for spitting in public in conjunction with a programme of education to persuade people not to spit in the street should take place say local Liberal Democrats.

At a meeting of Haringey Council’s watchdog committee last week a Haringey NHS official agreed that further investigation was needed into whether spitting constitutes a risk to public health, especially considering the recent outbreak of swine flu.

Haringey Council’s Street Enforcement Teams and the local Safer Neighbourhood officers currently have the power to fine offenders with a fixed penalty but this is often not used.

Cllr Ron Aitken, Liberal Democrat Crime and Enforcement spokesperson, comments:

“By-laws against spitting were passed by local authorities in the last century as a public health and anti-TB measure.

“With a predicted serious outbreak of swine flu we need to debate whether we need to start to take tougher action on people who spit in public places. Hopefully persuasion and education will succeed without the need for fines.

“Why fine for litter or dog mess when spitting shows a lack of respect for other citizens? I would like to hear what residents, Haringey Council and the police think.”

Local Liberal Democrats have responded to the Government’s consultation on the future of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by saying that the power given to authorities, like Haringey Council, to snoop on local residents should be reduced.

The RIPA legislation gives many public bodies the authority to investigate local residents using surveillance, undercover officers and the interception of electronic data.

Liberal Democrats believe that the use of the legislation, aimed to stop terrorism and high-level crime, has been abused by local authorities and, in Haringey, has been used to snoop on fly-tippers and other less serious offenders.

Furthermore, they believe that crimes such as drug dealing, gang related violence and serious anti social behaviour which Haringey Council has also justified the use of RIPA powers should be matters for experienced police officers rather than council workers.

Cllr Jonathan Bloch, Liberal Democrat in Muswell Hill and author of books on intelligence and spying, comments:

“Local residents’ civil liberties are seriously threatened by the continued use of RIPA. Councils should not have special surveillance powers to snoop in bins or spy on residents.

“Haringey Council have justified their use of RIPA by saying that they are investigating serious crimes. Whilst perpetrators of these crimes need to be pursued, local councils should leave it to professional police officers who are trained for years to catch criminals.”

Cllr Ron Aitken, Liberal Democrat Crime Spokesperson, adds:

“As Liberal Democrats we believe that our surveillance society should be not allowed to grow further and should be reduced wherever possible.

“Crime fighting should be left to the professionals and even when a council can lend a hand in helping to catch criminals the powers that local authorities have should be subject to checks and balances and used sparingly.”

Clear goals need to be set to get the best deal for local residents out of the Tottenham Hotspur regeneration project Liberal Democrats have said. At a meeting of Haringey Council’s watchdog committee last week Cllr David Winskill, Liberal Democrat lead on the committee, said that Haringey Council’s response to what outcomes local people would receive failed to include targets for crucial factors such as housing, jobs and training.

The Liberal Democrats believe that the redevelopment of the Tottenham football ground should be one of the key economic drivers for the regeneration of one of the poorest areas in South-East England.

Cllr David Winskill (Crouch End), Liberal Democrat lead on the Overview and Scrutiny committee, comments:

“At this stage Haringey Council should be working much more closely with Tottenham Hotspur to maximise the benefits for locals from this development – all we have are a few vague details.

“If Labour were committed to delivering for Tottenham they would ensure that local residents would get the best possible deal. As soon as Haringey Labour wake up to this, the better.

“Local residents need to see clear targets for affordable housing, new infrastructure, training opportunities for young people and employment opportunities.”

Cllr Rachel Allison, Liberal Democrat regeneration spokesperson, adds:

“Haringey Council under Labour has a long history of unsuccessful regeneration projects that have failed to deliver real and lasting benefits for local people.

“Tottenham Hotspur should be a major kick-start to the local Tottenham economy yet we see no evidence that Haringey Council has the vision to take full advantage of this golden opportunity.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“This project has huge potential for the whole of Haringey.We cannot let this great opportunity pass us by.”

Concern is growing for the future of allotments near to a local covered reservoir after a water company this week announced that is considering selling off part of the site. The Fortis Green reservoir, which is situated between Lauradale Road and Woodside Avenue, is popular with local residents walking through to Highgate Woods and is home to many allotments. Thames Water has said in a letter to residents and allotment holders that it is now “surplus to requirements”.

Liberal Democrats have written to Thames Water to voice their concerns and to ask when Thames Water is proposing to sell it off.

Cllr Martin Newton (Fortis Green), who has also contacted Haringey Council to ask how it can protect the site, comments:

“The Fortis Green reservoir is a wonderful open space, much loved by local residents and home to many residents’ allotments.

“We want Thames Water to come clean on when they want to get rid of this land and we want Haringey Council to ensure that it will be protected from developers.

“With allotment space already at a premium in Haringey, with residents having to wait years for a plot, the allotments need to be saved.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Developers must be licking their lips at the prospect of prime development land coming up for grabs. What Haringey Council must do is protect this valuable open space. Discussion with Thames Water must happen immediately to make sure that Haringey does not lose further precious green space.”

Commenting on the Ofsted inspection of progress made in the provision of safeguarding services in the London Borough of Haringey, Cllr Robert Gorrie, Opposition Liberal Democrat Leader on Haringey Council, says:

“Children and young people in Haringey are not yet consistently safeguarded and are still at risk due to shortcomings in the performance of Haringey Council and its partners.

“Haringey Council has made only limited progress in addressing the areas of weakness and worryingly the capacity to improve is reported as limited. This is an unacceptable situation.

“The inspection shows Haringey’s Children’s Services was in a significantly worse state at the beginning of this year than Haringey Council leaders previously understood or admitted.

“The most urgent question is when the public will have the confidence that children in Haringey are being safeguarded properly.

“Whilst the Ofsted report rightly recognises the efforts by staff to improve the safeguarding of children in Haringey, the central message of the report is much less reassuring.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“What is clear is that problems in child protection and safeguarding were much deeper than anyone thought – instead of being up to its waist, Haringey Council is clearly still struggling to keep its head above water.

“There are still serious concerns which cannot be starker than in the report’s statement that Haringey’s children are not yet consistently safeguarded.

“The report shows that Haringey Council is still failing to safeguard children and young people in Haringey.

“I want to know when children in Haringey are going to be safe.”

It has emerged that all local leaseholders in Haringey are being forced to pay up to £800 each for the installation of digital aerials, without an option to opt out of the scheme. Haringey Council is obliged under central government legislation to provide digital access to all tenants, but has decided to pass on large costs to leaseholders even if they do not want services or already have digital access through cable or telephone service providers.

Local Liberal Democrats, who are calling for an opt-out clause, have branded the charging system “unacceptable” and have highlighted similar schemes in Islington and Barnet where leaseholders have an opt-out clause and costs are much lower. In Islington the cost is a one-off fee of £75.

Liberal Democrats are backing local leaseholders’ associations in their fight against the charges and have said that Haringey Council needs to listen to leaseholders and change the scheme.

Cllr Matt Davies, Liberal Democrat Housing spokesperson, comments:

“These charges are totally unacceptable. For too long Haringey Council has been using leaseholders as a cash-cow but this time Haringey has gone too far.

“Not only are they failing to give leaseholders any say in whether they want this service but they are charging up to ten times more than other boroughs.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Leaseholders already have to pay large sums of money in maintenance and work carried out by Homes for Haringey yet, at any given opportunity, they are asked to dig into their pockets. In a time of recession this is just not on.

“Homes for Haringey need to re-consider this unfair policy.If they fail to act, Haringey Council should use its powers of direction to make them.”

Haringey Council admitted last week that it is so far behind schedule in its plan to halve the number of residents in temporary accommodation by March 2010 that it has changed the current target.

Documents released to Haringey Council’s Cabinet meeting on 16th June 2009 showed that Haringey Council was 520 behind the 4,000 target set for this stage in the project. The response of Haringey Council has been to change the target to make it “more realistic”.

Cllr Bevan, who is in charge of the Council’s housing, seemed to be unaware of the change saying, “As far as I am aware the temporary accommodation target has not been changed.” He was quickly corrected by council officers who said that the targets had been “re-cast”.

Liberal Democrats have branded the strategy a failure and have said that fiddling with targets is a disgrace which is of no comfort to the thousands of local residents living in inadequate housing throughout the borough.

Cllr Matt Davies, Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson, comments:

“This is an admission that Haringey Council is failing so many residents who continue to be stuck in temporary accommodation.

“Instead of recognising their failure and trying to do something to improve their performance, Haringey Council has simply reduced the target to try and hide their failure.

“Haringey Labour has no solutions so instead they fall back on fiddling with targets and creating confusion – even confusing their own councillor in charge of the borough’s housing.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Week after week I see the human face of Haringey Council’s failure – residents who have been in temporary accommodation for years with no realistic prospect of change. The news that, yet again, a Labour strategy has failed will come as no surprise to them but should not be allowed to continue.”