Lib Dem councillors in the London Borough of Haringey are demanding answers from Haringey Council over what it proposes to do to provide alternative local school places for around 77 reception children in the Crouch End area for September 2006.

Lib Dems say that a shortfall of 77 places has arisen because the Council rashly hoped to provide 60 extra places at Coleridge School as early as this year.

The 2006 date for the proposal has now been moved to 2007 by the Schools’ Adjudicator to whom the plans were referred and who held an official hearing in Crouch End on Monday. The Schools’ Adjudicator still needs to rule on whether the proposed expansion should go ahead at all.

Lib Dem Education spokesperson, Cllr Gail Engert, who was at the hearing, says Haringey Council must answer for why it did not assess the risks of offering such early provision at the Coleridge site. Lib Dems also want to know what ‘plan B’ the Council has for the provision of these places should the Schools Adjudicator turn the expansion down. In particular, the party wants to know what would be the time frame for any alternative proposal.

Cllr Gail Engert comments:

“I am disturbed that the Council does not seem to have thought through the timing on this issue, which was wholly unrealistic right form the start. The entire proposals will be the subject of a lengthy planning application, so there was never a realistic chance that places could have been provided for this year- and even for next year, the timetable looks very tight indeed. “

Local Lib Dem MP and Muswell Hill councillor Lynne Featherstone adds: “All this means disappointment and heartache for local parents who thought there would be more places availablethought so – because they were told so by the Council.It is yet another example of bad planning over the school places issue, with the Council seemingly unable to look into the near future, let alone planning for school places on a sensible, ten-year cycle.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Dave Winskill has expressed concerns that Labour-run Haringey Council is not doing enough to ensure that the employment prospect of those employed at Pembroke Works in Hornsey are assured for future years. Lib Dem say that the premises have space for several companies and can provide 50 or 60 jobs.

At Monday’s full council, Cllr Winskill asked the Executive Member for Planning and Regeneration to ensure Haringey wouldn’t be tempted by the lure of a substantial cash receipt in return for changing the terms of the lease of the Pembroke Works, of which it is the freeholder. He says the Pembroke Works could be a vital centre for employment and that the Council needs to retain the original lease – and the covenants in that lease that protect the jobs there.

Cllr Winskill comments:

“This part of the Hornsey ward has over the past few years seen many dozens of jobs completely disappear. The Hornsey Water Works and Haringey-owned Hornsey central depot have both closed, as well as many car repair workshops, light engineering factories and textile studios.

“It must be tempting for a borough that is raiding its reserve funds to pay for a £10 million plus overspend on IT to want to keep these reserves topped up. The Council would get a big cash receipt from an early termination of the existing lease.

“But the premises are purpose-built and quite modern, and fit in well with their area. Local residents want them to stay.Hornsey needs these jobs, and the Labour Council must resist the temptation to cash in.”

Local Lib Dems have expressed dismay at Haringey Labour’s callous disregard for the huge Council Tax burden now being placed on local residents. Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams says that the Labour Leader’s expression of “delight” at keeping the rate “low”, and the Lead Finance Member’s description of the charge as “affordable” was an insult to local residents and shows how totally out of touch the Labour party has become in the borough.

Last night’s charge set at the Full Council meeting including the hefty increase levied by the Labour Mayor, raises Haringey’s band D council tax to £1,383 pounds, fully £400 more than it was four years ago – a massive 41% increase that local residents can ill afford to pay.

Neil Williams says the charge is a double blow to Haringey residents, already struggling with huge electricity and gas bills this winter. They will also have to do without the £200 sweetener handed out by the Government last year as a pre-election bribe.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“I find the complacency of Labour over the Council Tax staggering. They should join us in efforts to press for change. To express delight at the charge, or to call it affordable is simply an insult to local residents, many of who can ill afford to pay. At least local residents will be able to give their verdict on this extraordinary inflating tax at the ballot box in May.”

Recently released figures published by the Department of Education & Skills show that Haringey’s Children’s Service has the second highest rate in London of children on the child protection (CP) register.

In 2005 Haringey had 240 children on the register – giving a rate of 48 children per 10,000 children under 18.Lib Dem Deputy Leader Wayne Hoban had put down an oral question for the Executive Member for the Children’s Service on these worrying figures at the last Council meeting. However, the question was not reached due to Labour filibustering, where the Labour Council Leader took 25 minutes to answer a single question.

Haringey is the only authority in the country to show an annual increase in CP registrations for each year between 2000, the year Victoria Climbie died, and 2004, when it hit the highest figure in England for the number of children per 10,000 on the register. The overall trend for England has shown a gradual decline in the rate of registrations since 2000, whilst in Haringey, the trend rose inexorably, climbing throughout the Climbie Hearing in 2002 and then rising sharply after 2003, when the inquiry report was published, to a peak in 2004.

Cllr Hoban states,

“It is clear that the shock of Victoria Climbie’s death and the ensuing public condemnation of Haringey Social Services caused Haringey to lower the threshold for CP investigations, with the intention of identifying as many children as possible who may be in need of protection from abuse. This process has clearly increased the number of CP referalls, often at the expense of protecting the interests of innocent parents who have been subjected to unnecessary trauma and suffering by the process.”

Cllr Hoban has dealt with several cases of Haringey families with children with disabilities whose children have been referred to the Children’s Service on suspicion that their children were in danger of serious harm, but who were subsequently found innocent.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“I want the Children’s Service to be far more open to the public about how it sets the threshold for identifying children it suspects are in danger of serious harm. It is clear that the Children’s Service has been placing more and more children on the CP register year by year between 2000 and 2004, when no other local authority was following this trend. The Children’s Service must be subject to greater scrutiny and openness if the public are to be reassured that they are acting responsibly when placing children on the CP register.”

Local Fortis Green Ward Councillor Stephen Gilbert has resigned from Haringey Council. Stephen, who has represented Fortis Green since the local election in May 2002, is moving to Cornwall to be nearer to his father who is seriously ill.

Stephen said:

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the last four years on the Council representing Fortis Green and working with local residents.

“Working with residents I hope we have achieved much in the past four years.I’m particularly proud that we now have the new bus route the police station has been reopened.

“I have a very real love for London and its communities, but I will always be Cornish and I hope people will understand that it is important for me to be close to my family at this time.”

Colleagues have paid tribute to Stephen Gilbert’s work in Fortis Green since his election in 2002.Cllr Matt Davies, one of Stephen’s Fortis Green ward colleagues, said:

“We are very sorry to see Steve leave, but of course fully understand the reasons behind his decision. Our thoughts are with him and his family, and we wish his father well.”

Liberal Democrats are questioning the actions of Haringey Council following many complaints from residents over the huge eyesore being caused by the very large lamp post banners that have appeared all over the London Borough of Haringey.Lib Dem Councillor Gail Engert (Muswell Hill ward), who has been investigating the matter, was shocked to learn that a 15-year commercial contract has been awarded for the signs without any consultation with local residents.

The information was brought to light in the papers for the Council Executive meeting to be held on 21st February at the Civic Centre. According to the Agenda papers, Haringey Council awarded a 15-year contract on 06/12/2005 to Bay Media to supply these banners. The company make their profit by selling one side of the banner to commercial advertisers. The other side is used to promote Labour-run Haringey.

Although there were some existing small lamp post notice boards for Council and community information, the new banners are about three-times larger, far more numerous and 50% for commercial use.

Councillor Engert has written to Haringey Council to raise several planning issues including the legality of these large banners when they are in or next to conservation areas, and the process of awarding and consulting over advertising consent for commercial users.

Cllr Engert comments:

“I was extremely surprised to learn that the Labour Council has tied the borough into a 15-year commercial contract to litter our streets with self-promoting banners. This will have a huge visual impact right across the borough. It is particularly ironic, just after the Council has published its Streetscene Manual promoting clutter-free streets. It is absolutely unacceptable that there appears to have been no public consultation about this decision.”

Voters in Haringey have until 13 March – just three weeks – to register so that they can vote for their local council representatives at elections on 4 May 2006.

With the registration deadline looming, Lynne Featherstone MP today helped the Electoral Commission launch a campaign urging all those people who are eligible to vote to make sure they are on the electoral register.

Names can be added later to the electoral register on a monthly basis but anyone not registered to vote by 13 March will not be able to vote in the 4 May local elections. An online electoral registration form can be downloaded from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

Peter Wardle, Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, said, “Many people assume that they’ll be automatically registered, but that isn’t the case. Politics affects every aspect of our lives, from rubbish collection and road safety to education and care for the elderly. We want to remind people in Haringey that they must be registered by 13 March so they don’t lose their right to vote.”

A recent report by the Electoral Commission found that up to 3.7 million people in England and Wales, between 8-9% of the eligible population, did not register to vote in 2000.

Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey & Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone has uncovered a scandal of Haringey Council not using money made available to help those with housing difficulties.

Each year the Government allocates councils money under the Discretionary Housing Payment funding.Since 2001, £¼ million has been unused under this scheme and returned to central government by Haringey’s Labour administration.

Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“I see some heartbreaking cases at my surgery where families are in dire need, often through circumstances beyond their control and that is what this fund is for. I dread to think how many families have been let down by Labour’s woeful administration of this housing fund.

“This is money that could have been used to help those most in need, when they most needed it.This is Labour failing on all accounts.”

Councillor Neil Williams added

“It is yet another confirmation of why Labour can’t be trusted to run public accounts.

“For a party that claims to be for social justice, it is the poorest in Haringey that get the rawest deal under Labour”

Note:The detailed figures are in a written answer to a Parliamentary Question from Lynne Featherstone, published on 9th February.