MP demands fair funding deal for Haringey pupils

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Haringey schools receive a shocking £736 less for each pupil compared to neighbouring ‘inner London’ schools, leading Lynne Featherstone MP to demand a rethink in government policy to ensure a fair deal for schools across the London Borough of Haringey.

On average boroughs designated ‘inner London’ by the government, such as Hackney, Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, receive an average of £6,216 per pupil compared to only £5,480 in Haringey.

Lynne Featherstone MP has demanded a face to face meeting with Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, to make the case for a fairer deal for Haringey pupils.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP says:

“Haringey certainly has equal if not greater educational challenges than many inner London boroughs. So it is plain ridiculous that if you stand on one side of Seven Sisters Road a child is worth £736 less than on the other, simply because of a borough boundary.

“This funding system is completely arbitrary and seems to have little to do with the real educational needs of our local children.

“I will be demanding a rethink from Mr. Balls as this is about a fair deal for our schools.It doesn’t cost any more to hire a teacher in Hackney than it does in Haringey so why the discrepancy?”

Liberal Democrats call for 'Decent Homes' investment following inspection

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The announcement that Homes for Haringey has received a two star ‘good’ rating has been welcomed by Haringey Liberal Democrats but they have renewed calls for the Decent Homes funding to be invested. Lib Dems believe that the Audit Commission decision on 23rd August 2007 should now clear the way for the investment of millions of pounds promised by the Government to bring all of Haringey’s homes to a ‘decent’ standard by 2010. The Labour government however has delayed funding until at least 2012/13.

Lib Dems have also called for the areas of weakness identified by the Audit Commission to be urgently addressed by Haringey Council. The Audit Commission recommended that customer services, gas servicing, rental collection and complaints procedures need improving.

Cllr Catherine Harris, Lib Dem Housing spokesperson comments:

“The two star rating is welcome but won’t help residents if the Labour Government will not loosen the purse strings and give the residents of Haringey the investment they promised. The Audit commission has said that the lack of investment in housing stock over a long period and stock condition data is inadequate. If Homes for Haringey is going to get any better at providing decent homes for everyone they will have to be given this money now.

“I call for immediate action by the Council to ensure Homes for Haringey gets moving on improving tenants’ homes across the Borough.”

Telgraf's first anniversary

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Lynne Featherstone MP at the first anniversary of TelgrafOff to Hackney for the first anniversary of the Telgraf newspaper – the only paper which has Kurdish and Turkish languages.

My own grandparents only spoke Russian. They never learned English. And there were no newspapers in Russian to tell them what was happening back home or to engage them in the Britain they had come to. As with that many of that generation – England and life was really accessed only through the children – of which they had seven.

Nowadays – we understand clearly that integration and access are vital so that all our communities live happily ever after. It’s a fantastic thing really – how we can have our culture of origin and the culture around us – and straddle the two with no probs as the generations move forward. This type of communication really helps.

So well done to Telgraf. Well done to Barclays who sponsored it and are making particular efforts to engage with the Kurdish and Turkish communities.

Bottom left in the picture is Ibrahim Dogus. He is a most fantastic advocate for the community in London and surely much of the reason for so many of the events like this – to which he is astute enough to invite oodles of politicians!

Parking problems in Claremont Road and Stanhope Road

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Lynne Featherstone MP meeting residents of Stanhope Road and Claremont Road to discuss their parking issuesReceived a late evening yesterday from Cllr Lyn Weber (Crouch End) about the residents of Claremont and Stanhope roads in the Highgate / Crouch End area who are now in a completely desperate situation re parking. What has happened is that with the advent of the Highgate Station CPZ, the Hillside CPZ (on the Islington side of the borough boundary) etc – this little enclave of roads finds itself much sought after. The still free parking there is now used by some people in the streets with a CPZ so that they don’t have to pay, seemingly all the motor repair shops who want to park the cars they are working on somewhere (and they arrive four at a time on vehicle transporters), and all the other people who want to park for the station or wherever – and these streets are the last, nearest ones left available.

The consequence is that residents cannot get to park anywhere near their houses – if they can find space at all – and now want a CPZ themselves, not surprisingly.

I have written to Haringey Council about this anyway – and am waiting for a response. But Cllr Weber has met briefly with Brian Haley and been told that there is no funding before 2008/09. It really can’t wait. And given that these schemes bring in a revenue streams for the council you would not think it beyond their wit to borrow from the 08/09 fund to bring the implementation of a CPZ forward – and then pay back out of the early proceeds?

So – Lyn had organised to meet a few of the local residents to look at the situation and decide a way forward. Even though it is mid-August and many people are away – still the parking stress was clear. And several young mothers came with their children to emphasize the fact that if you have young children, buggies, shopping etc – parking a ten minute walk from your front door is a nightmare. Another women was telling me that she was often having to park such a distance a way that she had to walk alone down a street where she was actually scared to do so alone at night.

Cllr Lyn Weber will be organising a meeting with Brian Haley as soon as possible. He had suggested October – but we want that meeting now!

Thanksgiving service for Tim Garden

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Such an amazing and moving thanksgiving service for Tim Garden. The service – in Hampstead Parish Church – echoed the stature of the man. Having posted previously – suffice to say that his wife Sue gave the most wonderful tribute speech about Tim and their life together. She spoke of how, when they married, as he was only 21 he had to get his commanding officer’s permission to marry. He received a four page letter describing to him the folly of early marriage and the taking of a wife being ‘saddled with a mill stone around your neck’. Sue said he had coped magnificently with his ‘millstone’!

It was a lovely tribute – and what came over clearly from the service and all who spoke was what a loving family man Tim was as well as the respected professional in the other worlds he peopled.

Tremendously sad occasion.

Future of the 603 bus is at stake

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Once more the long fought for, hard won – but still inadequate – 603 Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage bus route is in the frame! Having met with Peter Hendy, Commissioner of Transport a couple of weeks ago – and harangued him over having more operating hours for the 603 (as I always do) – post meeting it transpired that a review is in train (or in bus to be more accurate).

So I have written to Peter Hendy as below – and would encourage everyone who agrees that the 603 should firstly be retained, and secondly have its hours of operations expanded to either write to me at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA or email me at featherstonel@parliament.uk and I will pass on all responses to Peter Hendy.

They consult with stakeholders (local authority etc) but if you ask me – it’s the people who use or need this route who are the real stakeholders – so make sure you have your say too!

Dear Peter

At our recent meeting when I raised the issue extending the hours of operation of the 603 (as I always do!) you said that the route would be coming up for review and that you would let me know more about it. So I thank you for following up on that discussion – but – the information subsequently passed to me by your office alarmed me.

Far from ‘coming up for review’ it would seem that the 603 is actually under review at the moment. The message I received says that views of stakeholders have been sought already.

Views of stakeholders like the Local Authority and other organizations (which I assume are the sort of stakeholders referred to) are undoubtedly important – but surely in this case – where the route is a response to local peoples’ need (only met to a small extent by a school hours bus) – Transport for London would want to know from those local people what demand is there for both the existing hours and extensions to those hours.

I would like your assurance that no decisions will be taken before I have had the chance to inform my constituents of the review – and given them the opportunity to feed in their views. And I would like an assurance from you that you will take their views on board.

As you know, I believe that this service is highly valuable and personally believe it should be extended through the day and evening.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Lynne Featherstone MP
Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green

Seven months of parking misery ahead for Crouch End

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There seems to be no end in sight to the parking misery for people in Crouch End, say local Lib Dems.Residents have been inundated with cars displaced by parking restrictions in nearby roads after the implementation of Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in Highgate, Stroud Green and in Hillrise (Islington) coupled with the temporary closure of the Highgate station car park.

Local Lib Dem councillors have criticised Haringey Council for having no plan to help alleviate parking pressure in these areas until 2008/09. Lib Dems are demanding immediate action and the Council has conceded a meeting with residents’ representatives to discuss a way forward.

Cllr Lyn Weber (Crouch End) comments:

“I am disappointed that Haringey Council is again failing residents by not responding swiftly. Action is needed now rather than later. The agreement to a meeting is is a small step in the right direction but I will keep up the pressure.

“What is worrying is that Haringey Council does not have any plan to alleviate residents’ misery. Residents will have to put up with this until the next financial year. It is totally unacceptable that the Council implemented all of these CPZs in one go and did not seem to think of the residents in neighbouring streets. It’s another example of Labour’s careless attitude.”

Local resident, Rachel Allison, adds:

“Parking is a nightmare. Some people in Claremont Road cannot park in their own road let alone their outside their own house. The introduction of a CPZ into the bottom half of Northwood Road, a road that is not residential, beggars belief and is an example of the Council’s disregard for residents.”

Shocking housing figures unearthed by Liberal Democrats

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Figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have shown the appalling number of families in temporary accommodation in Haringey. In figures released to Cllr Catherine Harris, Haringey Council confirmed that 5,688 people are currently living in temporary accommodation – only down 300 from last year. Lib Dems believe that this shows Labour’s dismal failure to tackle the burgeoning issue of those living in difficult and uncertain circumstances and a worrying prospect for those still in temporary accommodation and on the 13,000 housing list.

Cllr Catherine Harris, Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson, comments:

“I raised this issue publicly last August when I unearthed the deplorable numbers living in temporary accommodation.Last year this was 6,000 families, and very little improvement has been made. I am very concerned about Labour’s lack of visible effort in this area. Haringey also has one of the highest number in London of children living in temporary accommodation and this can cause difficulties with schooling and health for families as a result.

“People living in Haringey deserve a better service and the Labour Council needs to explain now why other boroughs can solve this problem and they can’t. People living in temporary accommodation are often also trapped on benefits because the charges are so high if they work. The whole thing is a mess for ordinary people trying to get on with their lives – sort it out Haringey.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, adds:

“In my regular surgeries I come across so many heart breaking cases where families have put their lives on hold waiting for a decent home.These depressing figures show just how many families are having to wait and Haringey Council’s scandalously poor performance in doing anything to make the situation better.”

Note:Shelter figures show that Haringey has a total of 8,700 children living in temporary accommodation

The return of the economy?

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Do you remember what the news was like during the 1980s? (And I’m envious if you just say you’re too young to know!). Back then, economic figures – the monthly inflation figures, the latest unemployment rate, the new balance of payment figures and others – all featured regularly as major stories in the main news bulletins.

For a long time now they tend to feature only occasionally in the news – but the recent turbulence in the world’s financial markets have seen financial and economic news back in the headlines repeatedly.

I’m not a financial commentator – so I’m not going to try to predict where the financial markets will go next – but there are two issues around the political impact I’ll mention.

First – the big drops in pension fund values will heighten many people’s sense of insecurity about the future. Even if they recover, there will be an extra level of worry that it might happen again, or happen worse. If you’re caught out retiring when pension fund values are on a down, it’s not much consolation to know that people who retire in future years will probably end up benefiting from long term growth in values. It’s your pension, here and now, that matters most.

And for the many people who don’t have adequate pension schemes – the choppy news is, I think, likely to be put some people off thinking about saving or saving more for a pension – which is bad news too.

Helping to give people a sense of security and control about their financial future may creep up the political agenda again. I don’t think it’s just about pensions – it’s also about simplifying things like the horrendous complicated tax credit and benefit systems, so people can feel they have an understanding of what is happening, and a sense of control over their financial fate. It will also make it more important for parties to feature the economy in their pitches to the public (a subject I’ve written about recently for Liberator magazine).

Second – if we’re facing a period of financial instability, that makes calling a general election a bit riskier. You are the PM. You are ahead in the polls. You call and election – and then what happens if there is a lurch downwards or a new crisis during the middle of a campaign?

So perhaps the events of the last few days make an October election a bit less likely. But best to be prepared – so I’m still making sure we’ll be ready in my constituency, even if that preparation is now slightly less likely to be needed. Much better to be over-prepared than to be caught out by surprise!