Thames Water – not generous

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I agreed to do a phone interview as Thames Water are surveying people as to what we think of their services (as a Parliamentarian as opposed to me as a person with a home). Lots of companies do this and to entice MPs into agreeing to what is around 20 -25 minutes of interview they offer to donate to charity. The Charity is Water Aid – and that is an excellent charity setting up fresh water access in far flung parts of the world. So I said yes.

So the good news is that Thames Water is trying to find out what we think about it, what it should be doing etc etc. The bad news is at the end of the interview, I asked the interviewer what donation I had just earned for Water Aid. It is £10 per MP and £500 in all from all the MPs. This is beyond paltry. The minimum is usually around £50 per MP for this sort of thing and some going as high as £200. MPs do it – because of the charity benefit for it. 25 minutes of mind-numbing questions would not be first on the list to squeeze into a day.

That is why I am publishing this on my blog. It is my only revenge for a company who make Scrooge look generous!

UPDATE: Thames Water have now decided to be more generous.

Hornsey Central Hospital

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Met with the first of the local GP practices that I am hoping to see as part of the Lib Dem campaign to get a first-class health facility on the old Hornsey Hospital site as promised six years ago by those who closed the original hospital down.

The local trust is bidding for “Community Hospital” money from the Government – and it involves bringing a practice or two into the site itself and provision of lots of services that they hope all the practices will use for their patients. It will save lots of visits to hospitals too.

So I have written a letter of support for our bid – levering in the sort of money that we can get from this bid is, in my view, our best chance of getting this level of services into the west of Haringey and on the site of the old hospital. However, I want to make sure that the GP practices, who after all know the community and its local needs, are fully involved in the process and will be hopefully having further meetings in due course.

LIB DEM ANALYSIS SHOWS LABOUR MUST SCRAP STOP & SHOP

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The first stage of consultation on the Labour Council’s ‘Stop and Shop’ parking scheme in Muswell Hill shows that an overwhelming 98.75% of responses were for the scheme to be scrapped. Lib Dem councillors felt it was necessary to scrutinise the responses to the Council’s consultation, and found that of 724 responses to the consultation, just 9 were in favour of the proposals.

The Lib Dems are calling for the scheme to be scrapped entirely, as it is clear that there is no community support for the plans to go ahead.

Councillor Martin Newton, Lib Dem Spokesperson for the Environment, comments:

“The results are in, and there can be no arguing – the community is against these plans. To proceed now would be to steamroller over any pretence of democracy that Labour might ever have had – they must scrap the proposals. The importance of scrutinising Labour on this issue is very clear – who knows what they might have done had these results not been made public.”

Councillor Jonathan Bloch, ward councillor for Muswell Hill, comments:

“It is now time for Labour to come clean and admit that they do not have the people’s support for their proposals. The result could not be clearer, and even they cannot ignore it. Councillor Brian Haley should remember his claims that Muswell Hill people ‘don’t want a dialogue’ and that ‘All they want to do is impose their views on everyone else’. If the Labour council proceeds here, it will be quite clear who is doing the imposing.”

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I am not surprised that local people have shown so emphatically that this scheme wasn’t needed. What was needed (and how this started) were a few spaces for parking on the Colney Hatch Lane part of the Broadway where people needed to park for a few moments only and where there is almost no parking available. Parking schemes should be related to need for parking – not need to fill the Council’s coffers.”

LABOUR REFUSE TO CURB CREEP OF CROSSOVERS

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Lib Dems have expressed their dismay as Labour councillors in the London Borough of Haringey last night voted down an attempt to keep the spread of vehicle crossovers in check across the borough. Labour lead member Brian Haley directed his fellow councillors to ignore the Liberal Democrat suggestion and rejected a call to improve practice on this issue.

Lib Dems have growing concerns that the number of dropped kerbs is increasing across the borough as more and more households apply for permission to park their vehicles in their front gardens. The Lib Dems feel that this amounts to a creeping demise of pavements and believe that the Council has been too slapdash in its handling of applications for crossovers, with little coordination between council departments.

Councillor Martin Newton comments:

“There are clear guidelines laid out to decide when it is appropriate to grant permission for a crossover, and Labour have not been following them. There are clearly times when dropped kerbs are appropriate – for disabled access; if the applicant has an environmentally friendly electric car that requires recharging, to take two examples – but to simply grant permission to each and every application is simply not good enough.

“We need to protect pedestrian rights of way, not to mention the dreadful environmental effect of too many vehicle crossovers. Labour need to take action on this while we still have some pavements left. However, it is extremely disappointing that are choosing not to do so.”

LABOUR REJECTS DEMOCRATIC PROCESS TO HIDE HOUSING LEADER'S FAILURES

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Lib Dem councillors walked out of the meeting of the Full Council last night in Haringey in disgust over what they are calling “dirty tricks” and a “whitewash”. Labour used procedural means to prevent a vote of no-confidence in failing Housing leader Councillor Diakedes.

Councillors had hoped to hold Councillor Diakedes to account following the publication of a damning report by the Audit Commission into the failings of Haringey’s housing service. Mayor Adamou refused to accept that Lib Dems had the right to a no-confidence vote, and allowed Labour to completely delete the text of the Lib Dem motion.

There was the hope that some Labour members, concerned over the serious and ongoing problems in the Housing Service, would have voted with the Liberal Democrats.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat Opposition Councillor Neil Williams comments:

“The Council’s constitution has been abused. I am writing to the Mayor to complain in the strongest terms.

“Councillor Diakedes has been shown very clearly to have failed in his role. How can we have confidence in his ability to put right these serious failings? Not only are people angry that their places on the housing register are in question, but £228 million of investment is at stake in April – how are we to believe that he is competent to secure this? Once again Labour refuse to take any responsibility for their negligence.”

Councillor Catherine Harris, Lib Dem Housing Spokesperson, comments:

“The evening was a total sham. Labour have closed ranks to protect Councillor Diakedes, when they should have had the courage to admit that he is not capable of doing the job. We are talking about the Housing Service of Haringey Council here – real issues affecting real people’s lives. This represents about a quarter of the Council’s entire budget. How can he refuse to take responsibility?”

HARINGEY'S POLICE STATIONS MIGHT BE USED TO PLUG PRISON GAP

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Councillor Ron Aitken, Lib Dem spokesperson for Crime and Community Safety, is condemning Home Office stop-gap plans to use police cells to hold prisoners. The Home Office intends to take the step because prisons across England and Wales will be full by next week. Cllr Aitken warns that the move could have a serious impact on Haringey’s police stations.

The scheme, known as “Operation Safeguard”, will see prisoners transferred to police stations across the country for days or even weeks, as the Home Office shifts around a prison population that is larger than the capacity of UK prisons. Head of the Prison Governors Association, Charles Bushell, has claimed that the situation is “desperately bad”.

Councillor Aitken comments:

“This crisis is one of Labour’s own making. By failing to provide the necessary prison capacity, and failing to work to reduce the number of prisoners reoffending, they are putting a dangerous burden on custody facilities across the country. Police stations in Haringey are already overstretched, having to cope with cramped and outdated buildings.

“Moreover, I recently discovered that the borough’s cells are already used to hold at least half a dozen prisoners awaiting transport to prison, as well as holding deportees awaiting transport to airports and some who are awaiting admission to local mental health wards. Our police here in Haringey have broad shoulders, but they should not have to pick up the consequences of Government incompetence”.

CALL TO IMPROVE SERVICES ON WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

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Haringey Council and the local NHS are failing to provide a ‘good’ service to local people according to a Government report, released ahead of World Mental Health Day (10th October). The Government’s Healthcare Commission, which inspects health and care services, gave Haringey only 2 stars out of a possible 4. Just 54% of mental health services got 3 or 4 stars, putting Haringey in the bottom half of the ‘league table’ for supporting people with mental health problems.

The Liberal Democrats are marking World Mental Health Day by calling for Haringey Council and the local NHS to put greater priority on improving mental health services in Haringey.

Lib Dem Health and Social Services Spokesman Cllr Richard Wilson comments:

“One in four people suffer a mental health problem during their lifetime, yet mental health services still do not get the priority and resources they need. World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to put this right and demand better support for people in Haringey.

“The first national review of mental health services by the Healthcare Commission gave Haringey Council and the local NHS just 2 stars. It is clear local people are not getting the help they need. And with the Mental Health Trust planning to close a rehabilitation ward in St Anne’s Hospital, it does not look like services are about to improve.”

Cllr Ron Aitken, who recently spoke at a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat Conference on the subject of recovery from mental health problems comments:

“World Mental Health Day is not just about services but also about celebrating the many people who recover from depression and other mental illnesses and are able to fully participate in society”.

Remembering Paul Eddington

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Heart Paul Eddington lived in my constituency and today a bench was opened commemorating himwarming! That’s what today was. I ‘opened’ a park bench. This bench is dedicated to the memory of Paul Eddington (of the Good Life, Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister). He used to live in Park Avenue North, in my constituency, and the Warner Estates Residents Association (WERA) – mainly in the form of Joyce Rosser – organised the fund-raising for the bench. Moreover, the bench is on Priory Road by Priory Common – and Priory Common itself came about because WERA turned this little strip of land into something. Named it and claimed it. Cleared it of litter and weeds and a sign is being made with its name on to be put up soon.

Anyway – back to the bench. It is a splendid bench with a lovely plaque dedicated to Paul Eddington. Patricia, and two of their sons – Toby and Hugo – came back for the ‘opening’ of the bench. A really amazing crowd of local residents turned out to celebrate and what was so lovely (and heart warming!) was that the warm affectionate smile that comes to everyone who thinks about Paul as Yes Minister etc exactly summed up the warmth of the community action. A truly lovely event.

(You can even watch a very brief movie clip of the opening – as the wrong button was pushed on my camera by mistake!).

Hornsey Central Hospital

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Ruth Carnall is the Chief Executive of the new London Strategic Health Authority. I wanted to see her because at the recent public meeting on Hornsey Hospital it was made clear that a parcel of land from the site is to be sold off. Now – it is one thing if it is sold and all the money comes back into developing a new health facility on the site – but another if the money disappears into some distant pot and we here are left high and dry without hospital, without the land and without the dosh!

Where the money goes is down to this new body – so I wanted to meet them, but they didn’t want to see me! When my office phoned, (and my ‘arranger’ Ed is pretty insistent) – they insisted that I go and see the local Chief Executive of the Enfield Haringey Health Authority – Tracy Baldwin. So I did on Friday.

Happily, the fuss I made about wanting to see Ruth Carnall had preceded me in that Tracy Baldwin had been to the London body and been greeted by ‘who is this Lynne Featherstone?’! According to Ms Baldwin this was helpful in that the bid for a government pot of money is ready to be submitted (this is the larger part of the funding needed for the new facility) and if the government grants the bid then, together with the proceeds of the land sale, there would be the money and the plans to start work on the new facility on the site early in the new year. And – importantly – the London Strategic Health Authority have now said that Haringey will have first call on the proceeds. So – not quite a cast-iron legal contract, but pretty good news and if the bid is successful it looks as if the money will come here and the project will go ahead.

I am writing a letter of support for the bid – because this is the best shot at delivering facilities we are going to get. It’s best to get the best of what’s possible. There are other lesser options in the bid – but this is the one to go for. I am optimistic – and next it will be a matter of working to ensure that local people and users of local GPs services get an input to the next round of decisions about the site and its development.

We are a long way on from last year when it looked like only private money for private health would make the project viable. At least with this system the vast majority of the funding is NHS and the consequent facilities are mostly what local people say that they want. So – fingers crossed.