London's Olympics bid

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Barbara Cassani, who has been appointed to lead London’s Olympics bid, came in to the full London Assembly meeting this morning to answer our questions. The Mayor, Tony Winterbottom from the LDA and Barry Broe from Transport for London accompanied her to aid her with any questions which she could not answer.

Very impressive woman. She set the background to her role in the bid very ably and the questioning, at least to her, was generally supportive. The bid being very important to London, no one wanted to particularly rock the Olympic boat.

But then, life happens. In the Transport for London brief for the Olympics, they state that London rail, tube, etc will have a single control and command structure . Now we have all been fighting for this since the establishment of London Government – but the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) won’t play ball. The TOCs are a law unto themselves and their interest lies only in their long haul profitable train journeys. Try and persuade them to stop and put some service into the London commuter end and they virtually tell all and sundry where they can stuff London.

I am hugely supportive of our Olympic bid. I think it will be a fantastic coup and a catalyst for all sorts of good things to happen in London. BUT – a tinge of reality has to make our package believable to the International Olympic Committee. So I asked if Barbara was aware that the ‘single command and control policy’ might be a ‘pigs might fly policy’? I want Barbara to be armed with the facts so that she can make sure our bid is a winning bid – not a pie in the sky bid.

The current Mayor leapt in, and whilst admitting that the TOCs and the SRA were impossible to deal with – stated that if they couldn’t reach an amicable agreement on this, the Government would step in and legislate to force compliance.

Well – I hope he is right. But just in case that is another one of his unsubstantiated claims, I am asking Simon Hughes to table a question for Prime Minister’s Question Time asking the government to commit to guaranteeing that this is the case – and in writing!

Far be it from me to doubt Mayor Livingstone’s word…

COUNCIL APOLOGIES OVER FAILURE TO ANSWER LIB DEM QUESTIONS

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Haringey Liberal Democrats have branded the Council ‘a shambles’ after they apologised for failing to answer questions on social services issues, some of which were first asked three months ago.

Cllr Aitken wrote to the Council to complain about its failure to address a number of health and social services questions despite his regular requests for them to be answered. Last week he received an apology from the Council and stated that they would investigate the problem.

However Cllr Aitken is concerned that while he has received an apology as a member of the opposition, residents’ enquiries may be going unanswered and as a result public faith in the Council is diminishing.

Cllr Aitken comments:

“It is very worrying that as member of the opposition I am not receiving answers to my questions. The key role of the opposition is to hold those in power to account, without access to information we are left speculating as to what the Council has to hide.

“This sorry episode asks questions about the quality of service that the Council’s public information services provide if it takes them over three months to answer questions asked by councillors. It is a mess and it must be sorted out.”

Man with bike

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Saw a man about a bike today. It’s a striking idea called Sky Route – putting bicycle routes in clear tubes through the skies above the crowded streets. I thought idea was far-fetched until I met him today. It was a really impressive presentation and business case. So just maybe … one to watch in a capital city with no more road space!

David Rendel visits

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David Rendel, MP – shadow Higher Education spokesperson for the LibDems – came to Hornsey as our guest of honour at a party social.

He came to have a look at a couple of schools with me – given the untenable pressure on schools around Crouch End, the Lib Dems have been campaigning for a new primary school – and to Priory Road where we are campaigning for a pedestrian crossing to be introduced.

David spoke very eloquently about our fantastic by-election success in Brent East and what that meant for us in Hornsey & Wood Green. If we replicated that swing, we would take this seat by 15,000 votes. Way to go …

However, he then upset us all by saying that he believed IDS would go within two weeks. Now we love IDS and want him to stay. Between such a damaged and ineffectual Tory leader and a prime minister who has abused our trust (regardless of whether we were for or against going to war) the LibDems are doing pretty well right now.

Safety at Coldfall School

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I went to meet concerned parents and the Travel Group this morning outside Coldfall School where they have been having a nightmare of a time with parents parking irresponsibly when dropping off children. And not only the dropping off – but the maneuvering of their cars to get out of the cul-de-sac in Coldfall Avenue is lethal. Over recent weeks, I had managed to get the local beat officer and the PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) to drop by to try by their presence to ensure better behaviour.

I had also gone to have a look at what might be done to deter parents from driving badly by physical means – perhaps bollards to stop people reversing over the pavement and a widening of the pavement itself which is extremely narrow in front of the school. There is a bid in train for money from the ‘Safe Routes to School’ pot – but even if successful it will take some time. Personally, I think Haringey Council needs to act quicker than that on a few of the small but really helpful measures. I will ask to meet an officer next week to look at the possibilities.

While there, the beat officer turned up in person. It was wonderful to watch the salutary effect he had on miscreants! One woman had double parked her 4 by 4 quite a little way back from the school, keeping what she probably thought was a safe distance from the police officer. But he caught her on the way out and hopefully put the wind up her enough to stop her doing it again. We can but hope!

But we also need the Council to get its act together on those other measures to reduce the problem.

Victoria Climbie

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The parents of Victoria Climbie came to this afternoon’s meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority’s Planning Performance Review subcommittee, on which I sit. This is where I and others scrutinise the performance of the Met. On this occasion, one of the agenda items was an update from the Met on progress in meeting the recommendations of Lord Laming’s report on the tragic events around Victoria’s death.

As they sat watching our proceedings, I couldn’t help looking at them and wondering how on earth they can bear all of this. The weight of the responsibility on all of us sits heavy. The reality of their presence and their loss brought into sharp focus our duty in that room.

I was particularly struck by one paragraph in the report which was about Haringey. Haringey, post Climbie, acted to fill its vacant social services posts. The lack of staff to deal adequately with caseloads had been one of the criticisms and possible causes of the tragedy. To do so, Haringey upped the stakes and offered way over the going rate for the job. Consequently Haringey filled their positions. The report notes, however, that having the full complement of social services staff in place has resulted in a quadrupling of the number of police officers now needed to attend to the work involved.

This has two serious implications. If that situation were replicated across London and all boroughs filled their vacant posts (about a 20% deficit) what would that mean for police resources? And secondly – it seems to indicate an extremely large unmet need which must be residual in all understaffed boroughs. What risks is that unmet need be posing?

The Met will continue to report back to my committee regularly on progress with this.

LIB DEM MP SHOWN NEED FOR HORNSEY CROSSING

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Lib Dem councillors in Muswell Hill are pressing the case for a new pedestrian crossing on Priory Road, N8, and have even taken Lib Dem MP David Rendell to look at the site when he visited the area on Sunday.

David Rendell was shown the site, opposite Hornsey Fire station, by Local Lib Dem councillors Ross Laird and Lynne Featherstone.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The road is very wide at this point, with traffic from Muswell Hill often picking up speed on the journey to Hornsey High Street. There is a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road, but it is not safe enough. There is a definite need for a pedestrian crossing on the site, which will improve safety on the road.”

FEATHERSTONE CALLS FOR ACTION OVER SCHOOL ROAD SAFETY

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Muswell Hill councillor Lynne Featherstone has called for the Council to take urgent action to resolve the road safety blackspot outside Coldfall Primary School, Coldfall Avenue, N10. Her comments come after visiting the school and meeting concerned parents at the end of the recent ‘National Walk to School Week’.

Coldfall Avenue, a narrow cul de sac lined with cars on either side, has an entrance to the school at the end. It is also used by many parents to drop off their children and turn around. This causes congestion and a hazard to children and their parents walking to school.

Cllr Featherstone was alerted to the issue earlier this year by parents and local residents after a number of incidents involving vehicles and pedestrians around the entrance. She successfully campaigned for more traffic enforcement officers in August and this has brought about a slight improvement.

However on her visit she noted that there were still far too much use of the cul de sac during the school rush hour despite requests from the school and local police not to turn in the road. Cllr Featherstone is now calling for the Council to take urgent action to make the school entrance in Coldfall Avenue safer before a serious incident occurs.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am pleased that we have secured a regular police patrol for the area. This has helped to some extent, but the Council needs to take urgent action to resolve the traffic safety issues. The Council must continue to support and promote walking bus services in schools. Ultimately this serious problem can be resolved if schools and parents work together.”

MAJOR LOCAL CRIME SURVEY LAUNCHED

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Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson Lynne Featherstone has, with her fellow Lib Dem councillors, launched a major survey of crime in the Hornsey and Wood Green area. Ms Featherstone hopes that the results of the survey, which is being delivered to over 40,000 homes in the area, will aid her work on the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and also help the Council and residents to work with the police in the fight against crime.

She is urging as many local residents as possible to respond to the FREEPOST survey.

The survey covers many issues of crime concern, such as crime levels, reporting of crime and safety in the area, and seeks to identify local problems that often need attention, such as poor lighting, graffiti and abandoned cars.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“Our survey should help to highlight crime problems in the area. One problem is that residents will say that a particular type of crime is affecting them but this is not shown in the police statistics. This is often because relatively minor crimes frequently go unreported, for example because many people are unsure how to report a crime if a 999 call is not appropriate. This can mean that police resources are misdirected, so we all need to work together to crack this problem.

“I hope as many people as possible will participate, This will help our work with the police to reduce crime in the area.”

If you haven’t received a copy of the survey and would like one posted to you, please email crimesurvey@haringeylibdems.org.

LIB DEMS WELCOME RESOLVE OVER HORNSEY TOWN HALL

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Crouch End Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed the positive public meeting held last week on the future of Hornsey Town Hall, and have praised the organisers and the huge level of interest among local people to provide a brighter future for the beleaguered building.

However, some concerns were raised at suggestions that present Hornsey Library building should be closed and a new primary school opened on the site, with the library being relocated somewhere in the town hall complex.

Lib Dem Councillor David Winskill comments:

“This was a very positive meeting, with a great number of ideas and commitment from Crouch End residents to see this treasured building brought back to a thriving community use.

“However, I am concerned that the idea of moving the library somewhat muddies the water about the future of the Town Hall, as there are plenty of excellent ideas for it use already being discussed.

“The Council must now build on this resolve and work with local people to develop a future for the Town Hall, which has been left unloved for far too long.”